thOught industry – mOds carve the pig

It was approximately one mile from my home where Thought Industry returned, in early 1993, to perform at a small neighborhood bar where a few pool tables occupied more space than the stage. Forthcoming sophomore effort Mods Carve the Pig: Assassins, Toads, and God’s Flesh was a mysterious entity with its lengthy title and minimal hints from Metal Blade in their mailed newsletter. First opening band (unfortunately cannot recall their name) was very captivating heavy, emotive metal with frail vocals – and, sadly, some of the few in the audience let out accusatory “Tool! Tool!” shouts between songs. Next up was Canada’s sludgy, bleak, industrial metal band Soulstorm, who I really enjoyed, especially as they laughingly vamped Slayer’s “Angel of Death” during their sound-check. In all honesty, I’d have to say there were perhaps 20 people in the audience who seemed to actually have shown up to see Thought Industry, judging by the small stage-front gathering when T.I. began to play.
Immediately, some changes were apparent: Brent Oberlin’s long hair had been cut to a trademark long-in-the-front Dutch Boy ‘bob’, and although the glasses were now narrow-lensed bookish frames, it was perhaps more intriguing that he was also wearing a burgundy button-front with sleeves rolled up, necktie, and khakis…not to mention that he seemed to be dancing along with the writhing bass-lines this time around. This rather preppy, brainy image put a novel turn on the HUGE sonic wallop with which their new material literally crushed the audience – the new songs quite simply exploded from the stage. These were concise, focused, altogether signature compositions with massive herky-jerk grooves and head-turning confidence. One fellow longhair attendee actually walked to the very front of the stage and wordlessly grinned an enthusiastic “thumbs up”, waving his raised thumb at every band member in a gesture of inspired metal affirmation.
Upon release, the disc itself was noticeably more organic than Songs for Insects
with its dense, ruminating, and warm production by Ken Marshall
lending a more fluid and relaxed vibe when compared to the brittle accuracy of their debut. This time around, the verbose lyricsheet explored more seemingly auto-biographical territory, including paranoid political imagery and nihilistic social rants alongside melancholic tales of lost love, lost childhood/innocence, and scattered Cummings-esque sentence fragments. Drinking and recreational drug use also became prominent themes, poising the band (at least in my eyes) as contemplative, self-destructive hard-partiers washed in psychedelia. I also had a telling brush with Brent Oberlin’s non-social bent, when I placed a hand on his shoulder to commend the great performance and he promptly growled at me. Drummer Dustin Donaldon came across as the “press guy” of the bunch, being friendly and interactive with attendees, and fielding questions and compliments. That’s one of the reasons it was such a surprising turn, both for Dustin and the Thought Industry “vision”, when he left the band not long after…