ou know that bottleneck of pent up frustration slow boiling inside of you? Well, it just found a source of release, and it's name is Threat Level 5.The band originated in 1997, and is one of the gems in Cop Intl's crown. Threat Level 5 is post - Industrial dance music as conceived by Louis Diaz. Diaz is a gifted musician, who brings to the genre original sampling, predatory keyboards, and sex's darker rhythms. This is most excellent.

"Goddess" is the opening track on "Maschinen" and it put the smack down on me. I was blown away by the virtuosity displayed here. The sample was one of the best I've heard in a long time. The beats are heavy, the bass just rabbit punches you into submission. The ragged, distorted vocals made this a heavy track, indeed. This track is on my personal set list at home.

"Maschinen's" intro is synth and jackhammer beats. Distorted vocals lead us through a darkened tunnel, a tour guide of the apocalypse. "We've lost control, we've lost control, they took control." The lyrics are a scathing condemnation of inaction. The values of the minority, could be yours too, if they turn out in greater numbers to vote. You can bet, that they'll move to enforce them with the law. They take control? No, you take control, today.

"Cold Winter" features a strong keyboard arrangement, that moves with such a black alacrity that you cannot help but "shake it out." I really liked this track, for it's dance potential. It was infectious in the way only truly deadly things can be.

In parting, I'll leave you with this thought. In a civilized society a great deal of our raw, human emotion is turned inward. We are taught that it is the best way to peacefully co-exist with one another. Our anger, frustration, and sense of powerlessness can gnaw at us from the inside. Thankfully, for those of us that have discovered music, we have an outlet. We can give those emotions a voice through creative means, through dance, or simply listening. For myself, I'm grateful for what music like Threat Level 5 has to offer me. "Maschinen," feel and release.