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DOME RUNNER "World Panopticon"
DOME RUNNER "World Panopticon"
By Dr. Abner Mality
It's easy to forget now, but there was a time in the early 90's when FEAR FACTORY was one of the most revolutionary bands in metal. "Soul of a New Machine" was a DEATH metal record above all, but mixed with industrial sounds and clean vocals. "Demanufacture" took that vibe further and created something very unique. The band never reached those heights again.
I'm reminded of those early FEAR FACTORY albums when I listen to DOME RUNNER. This is also death metal combined with the cybernetic soundscape of a machine world. But even FEAR FACTORY itself doesn't sound as burly and just plain heavy as DOME RUNNER. The overlooked project MEATHOOK SEED comes to mind when listening to the 77 minutes of "World Panopticon"...essentially a double album.
The title track starts with something that almost sounds like a Gothic hymn, deep chanting vocals intoning in druid-like fashion. It's an eerie and subdued start, but DOME RUNNER really kicks things into gear with "Biased Heart Replica" and "Constant Crisis Diagnosis" which level the surrounding area with crushing monolithic riffs and guttural vocals augmented by mechanistic beats and samples. Many of the songs here range from 5 to 7 minutes plus and feature a varied vocal attack that includes death metal growls, more of those deep monkish cleans, an aggressive mid-range snarl and robotic cleans very much in the Burton C. Bell mode.
Through the many songs here, there are plenty of awesome death riffs and throbbing industrial beats. The only weakness with DOME RUNNER is the clean robot vocals just get repeated too often, resulting in a monotonous finish to the likes of "Soul Collapse Interface" and "Frail Demise". This was always a downfall of FEAR FACTORY as well.
When DOME RUNNER is at their peak, as on the skull crushing "Salvation Access", they are one hell of a band. This is a kind of industrial death metal we haven't heard in years.
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