In conversation with this writer recently, SENSER'S lead singer/ rapper Heitham Al-Sayed said he couldn't imagine what he'd do if he didn't have Senser, or music in general, as otherwise he'd have "no way to release the anger", and -even after a hiatus of seven years or so since their last album with the original line-up - he's clearly returned with more righteous anger and conviction than ever.
And at times, where their 'comeback' album "Schematic" is concerned, this is undoubtedly a good thing. Indeed, just stick your head out the window as opener "Silent By" whizzes past and you'll end up with third-degree burns. It's a great start, with huge, Killing Joke-style riffing from Nick Michaelson, ace drumming from John Morgan, dreamy bits and Kerstin Haigh's robo-rap incisions and a reminder that Senser could sonically maim and terrorise at will back in their early '90s heyday.
Impressive, and when backed up by the ferocious power of recent singles "Bulletproof" and "The Brunt" (perhaps the most livid, anti-Dubya tirade yet), you're entirely certain Senser did the right thing to get back together again. Elsewhere, when they employ slightly more considered textures, like the Open University keyboards and ethereal, drifting vocals of "Return To Zombie Island"; the nagging, danceable and furious "Formula Milk" - where Heitham has the music industry in his sights - and the slower "Photographed Files" where the powers that be get a bloody good kick up the arse, you again concur with the new! improved! version of the band.
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More of this and "Schematic" could be a real contender, but sadly a fair bit of the remainder is too formulaic to scale similar heights. Sure, tracks like "101 Infoburner", "Crucible" and "An Astounding Spectacle" wil probably inspire moshpit mania, but they're difficult to tell apart, however wrought with anger they are, while "Bomb Factories" begins in promising clipped'n'economical fashion, but the standard Rage Against The Machine posturing takes over and ruins it. The nadir, though, gets plumbed by "A Conscious War", which samples George Dubya, has tablas and (yawn!) a creepoid metal riff repeated over and over. It's all very worthy I know, but then so's refusing to kick Jehovah's Witnesses. Sorry folks. Don't call us, like.
So, while "Schematic" is surely a livid, seething monster of a record which reminds us (should we really have forgotten) that we live in a precarious, brink-dwelling world, it's ultimately too uneven to convince over an exhausting forty minutes or so. Nonetheless, Senser's sheer firepower remains undimmed and while they inspire admiration rather than devotion here, their reformation is by no means redundant.
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