For those of you who have little to do with EDM, Noisia was one of the less widely known but more interesting names in that musical genre. Specialising in cut-up Drum and Bass Music with dashes of other original incorporations of sounds and genres, they have mixed together elements of EDM and IDM sonic textures to create their own unique sound. This is the trio’s debut album, which was widely well-received and paved the way for many successful future projects, including remixes for a large number of big names such as The Prodigy. This original release was recorded over a three-year period and was released on 5 April 2010 on deadmau5’s own record label, mau5trap. It consists of 19 tracks and runs for nearly 57 minutes. Noisia were: Martijn Van Sonderen; Nik Roos and Thijs De Vlieger. Without further hesitation, let’s take a listen to this album, and we shall hear how it is.

1. Machine Gun begins with some freaky noises and powerful beats to match. This is weird, yet very interesting from the start. It sounds something like a film soundtrack from this time. Digital noises enter, and this piece gets underway. This is very original and different for EDM Music, by which this point it was already divided up into various genres and subgenres. It goes into quite an Industrial Music sounding midsection, which is brilliantly layered and synchronised in a cut-up way. It launches into a great groove surrounding all of this, and sounds epic throughout. This sounds a lot like some of the Dubstep of the time, and is brutal, like an audio punch in the face. Beats enter surrounding this superb tune, and this is absolutely music to take hard drugs to. It sounds very postmodern. A good symphonic EDM and IDM Industrial Music-based tune. This is music for those of you who crave EDM that is harder, stronger and more reliable than what Acid House offers. It finishes up dramatically.

2. My World features Giovanca and begins with some cut-up Drum and Bass beats, with some neat ethereal textures to match. The vocals from our guest match the tune very well. This is the sort of music that those who believe that The Matrix exists need to hear: a Cyberpunk 2077 futuristic tune. It sounds like a good combination of sounds, innovation and futuristic thinking to match it all. This is the sort of banger that people need to hear more often, if you only listen to EDM. A blast of futuristic sound, this sounds very in your face and direct to listen to. This album is okay so far, and one can easily hear exactly why. The Drum and Bass Amen breakbeats in the second half of the tune are supercharged and awesome. EDM may be a bit of an acquired taste, but this music does glory and wonder in just under five minutes. A supercharged listen, like the aftereffects of drinking a can of Red Bull, this is a well-constructed tune. It wraps up with some more subdued subsonic bass and beats galore. Interesting to hear.

3. Shitbox may refer to a toilet itself. This is a brutal tune with samples of a lady threatening a guy who is violent towards her. This is a short and sharp tune that is very well layered. It ends suddenly.

4. Split The Atom is the key track from this album. It has some intense, harsh Industrial Music sounds and some intricate, cut-up samples to match. This quickly emerges into a very percussive and interesting listen, which is a decent combination of interesting and unique sounds, right up to an energetic climax, which sounds good. This bursts into a moving tune that, although sounds very different in a rhythmic sense, progresses with some interesting and IDM-based textures that just sound simple and different. This is a mental sounding banger of a tune that does not disappoint, if that is what you are after musically. In the midsection is a cool breakdown with a Trance music-like edge. The song title spoken is sampled here, and cut up nicely to match the song, followed by a creative and crafty build-up of sound. This may sound like most EDM to an outsider (which it does), but it sounds very original and sweet if you have listened to lots of EDM before. Indeed, splitting atoms is a process of creating nuclear energy, just FYI. This tune has a similar impact on the senses, and sounds amazingly cool as well. Worth hearing, even if you have not heard much Electronic Music at all. It does sound excellent for its sound and scope. An awesome tune

5. Thursday begins with some rather unpleasant sounds and textures. The kick beats do raise one’s adrenaline, but this honestly sounds rather too dark and freaky for its own good. In any case, it is quite a bit shorter than what came before it. Nonetheless, this is difficult to get into. It does gradually progress into a more spacey piece, with some decent cut-up Drum and Bass beats. This is good all the same, but it takes a while to warm up. Nonetheless, Noisia have crafted a fairly unique listening experience so far on this album. Just be aware that for EDM heads and Ravers alike, this album is a bit of an acquired taste. In any case, this winds down with some unique sounds and spacey textures to match. Good but not great. It ends with some very loose IDM-style melodies.

6. Leakage begins with some interesting and intelligent drum and sonic loops to match. This is a much shorter piece, at only around a minute and a half long. It is an experimental sonic piece which sounds dark, vibrant and unique. It makes for a powerful and unsettling listening experience. This is exactly the sort of music that one would listen to if taking hard drugs all night and blasting the neighbourhood with this sort of music.

7. Hand Gestures launches into it with some loose and more dark and rather odd sounds. Again, this is fairly short at over three minutes long. By this point, the appeal of the album wears off somewhat, with some more of the exact same beats repeated. It continues into a trippy and weird sparse breakdown, before resuming with the same old beats again. This is good, but certainly not great to listen to. The music is powerful nonetheless, and is a great sort of thing to blast at full volume. Despite this, it lacks the focus and direction that is otherwise needed. The music is fairly ordinary, and one can easily listen to something more impressive than this. It ends with some watery sound melodies.

8. Headknot is a slowish tune that, again, is very short. This is beginning to sound a little dark and awkward musically. Sure, it is listenable, but better albums and sounds have been done in the name of IDM-based EDM. It just sounds like Noisia were attempting to rewrite the rules of Electronic Music after they had already been done by others. The twinkling sounds at the end are interesting, though.

9. Red Heat is a weird tune that sounds like a bad Psychedelic trip styled Daft Punk track. It is punchy and funky, but in a very odd and unusual sounding way. There are some quite interesting cut-up sections throughout. This tune is a little bit better than what came before it, in actual fact. This is an experimental and more House Music-based tune for those EDM heads out there. Not bad for what it is. It has some funky Fender Stratocaster samples throughout, which sound different. Good, but even so, this album is not as groundbreaking or consistent as some critics make it out to be. In any case, you can listen to this, but the album is rather lacking overall. This ends with some bombastic Dubstep-style sounds, however. Not bad.

10. Shellshock features Foreign Beggars. It is a combination of Rap and Drum and Bass, a weird mixture if there ever were one. It enters into a brutal and harsh tune that is reminiscent of heavy Dubstep. Eventually, this picks up nicely with some loud and proud sounds and more of the same sounding Amen drum breakbeats that have been done to death by this album’s release. It’s good, but again, not quite great. There is just something lacking about this listening experience. Sadly, as the 21st century progresses, music is becoming way too formulaic for its own good. There is a breakdown in the second half, followed by a punchy and irregular rhythm section of music. Good, but this is fairly formulaic music territory. It wraps up after nearly four minutes with some weird Ambient textures to match.

11. Whiskers is a short and rather odd piece of music with some cut-up beats and a chilled-out vibe to it all. It is a weird and unusual piece, which seems intermissionary in its approach. This has a rather messed-up sound to it all. Odd.

12. Alpha Centauri begins with a sonic blast, and has some very spacey textures, before launching into another trippy and dark sounding tune with some minor key melodies and a disappointing music listening experience. It is a deep, dark and cold listen. This is Techno without regular beats and consistency throughout. It is not a totally enjoyable or pleasant listen, to be frank. The sounds and textures are really quite lacking. Eventually, a rhythmic and sonic barrage of beats and subsonic layered basslines enters. Sadly, this is not what EDM heads or similar listeners really should listen to. It sounds a bit better in the second half, but is still lacking and frankly, disappointing. This does sound energetic, but most people will have switched off from this album by this point. Nothing overly special on this tune. It has a lengthy fade out with more dark textures and outer space styled film sounds.

13. Soul Purge features Foreign Beggars (again?). It is a three-minute-long piece with some interesting beats and transitions into a really awful tune to listen to. Seriously, this is one worth skipping. It sounds totally discordant, and our guest ruins the tune. It sounds as though Noisia had made a bad vibe experimental album that fails to live up to the hype. This is dark, poor and disappointing music listening. A very difficult tune to listen to, and it has some sexist and horrid lyrics. Skip ahead and no regrets. This is definitely a tune for one to roll their eyes at. Go and listen to Skrillex instead; this is quite horrible music to hear. Fortunately, it is over fairly quickly.

14. Diplodocus begins with stereo panned static sounds, weird electronic patches, and it sounds warped, dark and unusual. Surprisingly, this is actually an improvement on some of the tracks before it all. A better but still overly formulaic listening experience in general. This has a neat breakdown and punch to it all, followed by more of the exact same-sounding beats that have been used beforehand in this album. Honestly, that is not on, and if anything, Noisia’s peers flog them in that area. This is three minutes long, fortunately, so it is not too much to listen to. It is fairly repetitive, though, and has an awful fly-sounding static melody to conclude with.

15. Paper Doll begins with some reversed piano sounds and water dripping. This is more filler, and it seems that Noisia were awkwardly attempting to make something creative. It’s over after just a minute in length and segues right into the next song.

16. Dystopia has some sounds that sound really horrible, matched with some accompanying beats. This is ridiculously bad to listen to. It is less than a minute long, thank goodness. You can stop the album at this point. It finishes like a record shutting down. Pathetic.

17. Sunhammer features Amon Tobin. This begins with some dark and awful ambient sounds, which sound like something out of an electronic nightmare. Random banging percussion melodies enter as well, followed by other weird and odd samples. Yes, turn this album off if you have made it to this point. It is really difficult to get into by this track. Beats and textures enter, which themselves are quite good, although this is destroyed by the rest of the tune’s sound. In any case, this is clearly not good to listen to. The music and sounds on this tune are definitely not what the average music fan could consider listenable. The editing is cool here, although the sounds themselves definitely are not. The Classical music-inspired outro is horrific, and this is a bad album for EDM. It signalled the fact that the entire genre of EDM was beginning to become stale at this point. Poor. The sounds at the end are awful, too.

18. Stigma begins with some random bass guitar sample, whooshing noises and other spacey sounds. This is very difficult to get into. It has another bunch of bad sounds emerge, before beats eventually enter into all of this. To be fair, this is definitely an album of style over substance. Nothing special here, once again. This album needed a desperate rethink by this point. It is the sound of Noisia shooting themselves in the foot before even getting started in the music industry. Sensational? Nah, awful. This is a serious drag to all those who listen to this album. Very much a very disappointing listen. Fortunately, the album is near its end by this point. Avoid. Even the outro is bad.

19. Square Feet segues in from the previous track. It has some interesting and deep sounds, which are actually okay. This is a surprising improvement on much of the rest of the album. It sounds electrifying, pounding and furious as such. All in all, a slight improvement of a tune to fit a relatively disappointing album listening experience. The mixture of sounds and melodies on this particular track is actually quite good. Noisia would have been best off just doing remixes, rather than delivering an album like this, where the off sounds and melodies do not serve the listener well. It ends with a decent and laidback backing track, before this three and a half minute long tune finishes. Good but not good enough, to be honest.

This album, contrary to the hype, is just not good enough to listen to in all seriousness. At times, there definitely are some fresh moments of brilliance. However, having said that, most of the album is very much a sonic exercise in mediocrity that does not serve the listener very well at all. Therefore, it is difficult to recommend this listening experience when so many other Electronic Music artists have done better. Should you listen to this album? Probably not, look elsewhere on Spotify or the like for something better.

Deeply disappointing and fairly unlistenable.

5/10