FACS' Lifelike is terrifying and thrilling in equal measure

And so here we are, two albums deep into what is, essentially, a continuation of the Disappears sound. But it’s so much more than that – this album is clearly a step further away from what you might have associated with that band. This album is FACS becoming their own band, leaving the shadow of records like the John Congleton-helmed Era or Irreal. This is really scary shit.

For a record containing only six tracks, Lifelike is quite a monstrous animal. Opener “Another Country” is as doom-mongering and evil as something you might hear on The Cure’s early '80s records, but carries a muscular, almost noise-rock heft, verging almost on death metal atmospherics towards the end. It’s like something from Faith being played by Sonic Youth, arranged by Gojira.

That’s followed by the creeping monstrosity “In Time”, in which every instrument seems to have been processed to sound as ugly as possible. It’s a trick Trent Reznor pulls off, quite expertly, on every release. Here, FACS sound eerily similar to peak-era NIN – the insistent pulse of the rhythm offset but metallic, grinding guitar drones... lovely.

The sound of the first track is continued on “XUXA”, where we’re dropped into an early Cure/The Fall fantasia of horrifying sonics and nailbiting minimalist doom-goth. “Anti-body” kicks up the tempo slightly, and develops on the growing sense of horror of the previous track. Remember when The Fall’s “Hip Priest” was playing in the background of the climactic scene from The Silence of the Lambs, when Jame Gumb/Buffolo Bill is chasing Agent Starling around his murder dungeon? This is that, but for 2019.

If there’s ever been a more terrifying song about unwashed jeans than “Loom State” (look it up), then it’s for the best that we don’t know about it. “Loom State” sounds like something Cabaret Voltaire might make in a nightmare where Nico is murdering Alan Vega in a dungeon. Take that literally, and you’re close to how terrifying it sounds.

The closer, “Total History”, is by far the most pleasant, easily-digestible track on the whole set. Compared to the rest of the thing, it’s positively pleasurable. It breezes by, despite being the longest track on the record. It acts as a salve for the chemical-burn wounds of the earlier tracks, despite being quite vicious itself.

This is not a record for the faint-hearted, and should come with some kind of health warning about the negative effects of listening to it one too many times. Like clear ancestral forefathers Faith, Hex Enduction Hour or The Downward Spiral, this is best enjoyed in small doses and every so often. It’s too good at what it does to be listened to daily. Handle with care and approach with caution.