"This is top-notch Bill Leeb/Rhys Fulber material, and it is all executed in that very robotic, sometimes intense, way that is prevalent on most Frontline Assembly albums (Leeb's full-time band). One does suspect that a lot of these side projects came about due to "left-over" FLA songs.Back to the album: the first half is fully-energized, and 3 of the first 5 tracks feature guitars that are perfectly incorporated into the noise of the electronic beats, bass, and keyboards. These first 5 songs are excellent. None of the songs feature any vocals, save for the occassional sample. "Miracle" is my favorite track, with a movie sample from "Lord of Illusions." It's a powerful song. Also, "Eye Burner" uses some drum n bass techniques to an effective end."Sloth," "Neuron," and "Other World," are all great songs in their own right, but they disrupt the flow of the album slightly. "Other World" sounds very much like a Delerium track(another of Leeb's side projects, only much more popular). However, "Penance" is a nice, sort of restrained, drum n bass number that ends the album quite well, with great keyboard work.None of the tracks are groundbreaking, but this album is again proof that not all great things are necessarily innovative or cutting-edge. If you like industrial/goth/metal, et al., than pick this one up.And although I enjoyed the previous Noise Unit album, "Decoder," I was glad to see that they had moved on to try new things (drum n bass, etc.). Noise Unit's "Strategy of Violence" is also very good -- but it may sound quite dated to some."
One of my favorite albums
David Kerr | Calgary AB Canada | 02/07/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is not a dark album, or a dancy goa album. It's old fashioned techno in the vein of Kraftwerk and KLF. And coming from the boys of FLA, you know you're gonna get a good helping of 80's sci-fi movie samples! Almost every song on this disc makes good, relaxing background music that you can space out to. NOT dance music."
Noise Unit - Another side project of the legends Leeb & Fulb
Petar Vodogaz | Sydney, NSW Australia | 07/10/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I am well underway in my quest of purchasing all of Leeb's, Fulber and Peterson's side projects and manifestations. Fulber and Leeb are best noted for their stewardship of Delerium, FrontLine Assembly entities. They have been partners from the early 1990's and have created many side projects, some turned out duds but others tuned out pretty good like Intermix and Pro>Tech. This is Noise Unit, here Leeb and Fulber experimented with new sounds and input and this shows with the song's creativity that captivates the listener. 'Drill' is Noise Unit's debut and its a highly complex and mysterious album. These are not dance or trance songs like so many other of Leeb's works are but a purely machine like industrialized sound. The songs that stand-out for me in this release are 'Miracle', 'Other World' and 'Penance'.
This CD is for fans of early Delerium and people who like FLA will totally enjoy this offering. The new sounds complement the industrial gothic beats to create a fiesta of listening quality."
Decent, not amazing
David Kerr | 07/17/1998
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This album isn't as good as Decoder, which is the best Noise Unit release IMO. It is a darker album and the beats attempt to be more interesting, but I find that the songs don't really have as good a coherency as they could have had... for me, the sampled guitar was not a welcome addition -- it only detracts from the rest of the music in the context of the songs on this album (I really liked the sampled guitar on Millenium, for example -- it fit there). This album is okay, but there are plenty of other much better albums. It's a shame that the songs fall apart so much and get boring on repeated listens -- Decoder was such a great album that I was expecting more than this... especially with the addition of Haujobb to the list of people helping create it..."