After their stand-out track on the Endzeit Bunkertracks II compilation, it’s no surprise that FGFC820’s Urban Audio Warfare is one of the best full-length debuts I’ve heard come out of the industrial scene in a long time.  Since the band is comprised of two experienced DJs, it’s not surprising that Urban Audio Warfare feels engineered to ignite the dance floor.  The music stomps, and it stomps hard, with elements of old-school EBM and newer aggro influences colliding in a style that fuses gigantic beats to versatile synthwork and programming.  The use of ominous tolling bells are an especially nice touch and the distorted-but-not-flanged-to-hell-and-back vocal processing stands out from the crowd.  Much of the band’s imagery centers on militarism and war, but the lyrics seem intentionally ambiguous, neither pro nor con, black nor white.  Even so, the lyrics don’t rise above the cliches of the genre, and their ambivalent stance doesn’t really make them all that memorable.  Despite this minor qualm, it should be noted that the lyrics here probably aren’t FGFC820’s main focus; the words function more like catchphrases to be shouted on the club floor, which is exactly where Urban Audio Warfare belongs.

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