Album Review: Cut To The Core

Cut To The Core is the debut album from Christchurch’s Cybermanic, a two-piece (although currently in the throes of becoming a three-piece, with a new bassist furiously learning the bass lines) Industrial Rock/Metal band. Formed in 2019 by James Williams (vocals/guitar) and Hannes Danielsson (drums), Cybermanic spent most of 2022 preparing for and recording the album and they are about to start travelling the South Island to promote it.

Cut To The Core kicks off with an absolute banger, Anti-Revolution, full of more hooks than a fisherman’s kit bag. Cybermanic describe themselves as Industrial Metal, but there’s a lot more going on, with Nu-Metal and Punk also having significant influence. The Jugular is next, with a powerful drum intro and a beastly, angular riff. The Rammstein-esque (Rammstein being listed as a major influence, along with NIN, Atari Teenage Riot, Static-X, Pendulum, Slipknot, Sybreed…) Suckerpunch follows up being grabbed by The Jugular, with its utterly filthy bass tones. No Respect starts off with more of a lo-fi vein, before kicking into Industrial mode. Black Hole Heart has a suitably moody intro, before becoming a fantastically danceable track that reminded me of Muse, in a most excellent way.

Confess is heavy, dark, and aggressive, a thunderously rolling drum beat paired with a jarring riff, and a vocal delivery worthy of the most brutal Inquisitor. Stormdancer shows off what a true riff-machine James is. The longest track of the album at 4.21, it conjures up classic spy-movie vibes, and is one of my favourites of what’s on offer. I’m Happy Here has a frantic pace with a sparse riff, which you can learn with James’ guitar walkthrough video here. Circuitry Of Misery has a monstrous riff and includes a delicious nod to NWOBHM styles. After The Light has a bass line like a slab of granite, powerfully pounding your skull into submission. My absolute favourite is next, Encoded Guilt reminds me of the best parts of Regurgitator, fast-paced and almost pop-like, with a magnificent breakdown that would be awesome to witness live. Finally, Burning Bridges brings things to a close, and it’s a perfect selection to wind this album up. Cybermanic bring all of their songwriting skills to the fore on this epic track, an angry, roaring explosion of emotion.

Overall, this album’s production reminded me of Ministry, who Cybermanic also cite as an influence. Cut To The Core is available on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, YouTube, and on CD. You can contact the band directly for CD orders here. Well done, lads… let’s gig together soon!