If you like horror movies, Kruelty’s music is the hard dance equivalent. He just released his debut album BLOODBATH MACHINERY this week on Theracords Records. BLOODBATH MACHINERY is a 13-track, 35-minute horror journey where Kruelty combines elements of hard dance, hard techno, and industrial hardcore.
The masked Dutch producer calls himself the “Death Seeker” and the first track on the album gives listeners the feeling that he is coming to get them. It isn’t a musical track—it’s more of an intro—but it sets the tone for what’s to come. “BALACLAVA” showcases Kruelty’s love for hard techno with a booming kick covered by screams and a screech that sounds like an alarm going off.
“REVELATION_13” is a short and more synth and melody-driven track, but is still filled with kick rolls. It was released earlier this year as a single to announce the album. “EXODUS 20_14” is a collaboration with like-minded producer Mortis. The kick is especially punishing and the screeches are well placed. “CHOOSE VIOLENCE AND WIN” is all about the kick, which changes multiple times over the two-minute span of the track. Here Kruelty states, “You are not the first to feed the bloodbath machinery and you will not be the last.” “THE KULT” is an interlude of Kruelty speaking to his followers, welcoming them into the “Kult of the Kruel, rulers of the Bloodbath Machinery.”
The second half of the album includes more collaborations, including the title track “BLOODBATH MACHINERY.” This song is a collaboration with Qoiet, a German bass music producer and vocalist. It has a more Kayzo-esque feel to it with screamo vocals, chugging guitars, and a downtempo beat. Even with all of these other elements, there is no shortage of screeches and kicks. Kruelty leans more into the rawstyle genre with “SCREAMER,” a collaboration with German extreme rawstyle producer The Smiler. This track is aptly named because the screeches in it are more reminiscent of a scream. “WAR IS INEVITABLE” would be the perfect soundtrack to a battle between the Kult and the humans. “DAMNATION” with Gearbox regular Exproz lets the humans know they will never escape the Kult and the Bloodbath Machinery. “HUMAN SUBJECT EXPERIMENT” was originally released as a single in 2023 but was remixed by Luminite for the album. Luminite takes the previous hard techno version in a more rawstyle direction by removing some of the melodic elements and heavily distorting the kicks and adding in more screeches.
If you thought the album was already pretty distorted, “STUGNA-Z” cranks the distortion all the way up. Paired with descending synths and metallic snares, it causes an almost dizzying effect. The final track on the album “MEATGRINDER” finishes strong, combining everything we’ve heard throughout the album all at once.
Overall, BLOODBATH MACHINERY is a well done concept album that brings Kruelty’s artistic vision to life. I’m very excited to see what a live show for this will look like after last year’s This Is Kruelty live set at Trinity: The Extreme Society. Keep up to date with everything Kruelty has going on by using the links below.
