Mentallo & The Fixer - Arrange The Molecule

Few names in electro-industrial are as stubbornly singular as Mentallo & The Fixer. On Arrange The Molecule, Texas producer Gary Dassing once again shuts himself inside his bunker studio and comes out with something closer to a sound experiment than a conventional album. The title comes from the line "Blessed art thou who arrange the molecule," and the record is built on that same blur of the spiritual and the scientific, left open for each listener to interpret.

The predecessor, Music From The Eather, was already a demanding listen: stacked synth sequences, pounding upbeat rhythms, and haunting samples coming from every direction. Arrange The Molecule goes further. It is more complex, but also more structured in its arrangements, with Dassing aiming to hit as many frequencies across the spectrum as possible and keep the whole dense mass moving through the stereo field. By his own account, this is where he topped out on what he calls "the crazy ear candy."

What keeps it from collapsing under its own ambition is that Dassing refuses to be precious about any of it. He does not expect anyone to love every piece, and he would be just as happy to hear it was played to freak out your friends. His only instruction is simple: "Use the music as your drug!" That mix of obsessive craft and a shrug is what has made the project a cult favorite among industrial and electronic listeners.

This limited edition comes in handmade, art-style carton packaging and adds a bonus disc of remixes, medleys, and unreleased and B-side material, effectively a second trip to go with the first. For headphones, late nights, and anyone who likes their electronics maximal.