Tactical Pagan is seemingly a collaborative effort between artists Justin K. Broadrick and Andrew Swan. This self-titled first release sounds like it could be the score to a movie set in a dystopian wasteland of a city. With track titles like “Personal Surveillance” and “State Curfew,” there’s no question what the creators of this project fear lies ahead for humanity. These ten tracks are filled with industrial anxiety and the fear of a fascist state—a police state in which personal freedoms are minimal to non-existent.
The instrumentals do a solid job of reflecting the track titles in tone, with most of the album having a paranoid and intensely gritty sound. In the opening track, “Krasue Militia” screeching metallic noises quickly devour the soundscape, and a continuous drumbeat can be heard creeping the song forward and keeping the audience on edge with its heavy use of high ends.
The next track in the album, “Mercury Eats Gold,” is more electronic yet just as unsettling. There are some exciting choices on this track specifically. The vocals express a prayer floating over the last dying coughs of synth. Ultimately, the guitars screech and sink the audience further into the void.
The fourth track, “Personal Surveillance,” shows the first signs of something bright as the synths playfully bounce around the track. The wonkiness of this beat almost catches the listener off guard until familiar industrial sounds are splattered on top.
This wonky shift in style continues on the next track, “State Curfew.” The additional bass gives the song a procedural feel in the literal sense—it sounds like it was sampled from an episode of Law & Order. While these are all interesting and experimental choices, the album’s middle section begins to feel like a bit of a challenge to get through, with songs beginning to blend into one another.
The album picks up again with track 8, “Trace.” This song begins with soft feedback that quickly turns harsh as the vocal sample of a woman in despair provides an intro. The vocals then end, replaced with a beat reminiscent of a sinister machine waking up to wreak havoc upon the world.
Overall, this album has many interesting ideas that are being used effectively to bring life to the tone of paranoia and fear that comes with dystopia. However, the middle of the album begins to lose track of this and can become pretty dull. Track 8, “Trace,” picks up what the beginning of the album managed to create and returns the listener to this land of horror. The album’s final track, “Every Single Lie,” is disappointing as a finale, though it is a project worth checking out for fans of anything industrial.
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