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Audio Paradox - The Iniquity of Time (1999)
Audio Paradox was a Christian electro-industrial / industrial rock act formed in 1989 by Josh Pyle. After a self-titled cassette released through Dash Music in 1994 (currently lost media), featuring a blend of musique concrete, electro, and rock material written and recorded between early 1990 and late 1993, Audio Paradox appeared on a slew of various artists’ compilations over the next five years, gaining prominence with the tracks “Grace One” (on R.E.X. Music’s Electro Shock Therapy) and “Parasitic” (on Blacklight Records’ Escape the Furnace – Volumes I & II), among others. Both tracks, along with “Ageless”, were featured on a self-titled cassette EP released by Flaming Fish Music in 1997. Later collaborators and live members included Matthew Edwards (who co-wrote much of the later Audio Paradox material with Pyle), Kane Kelly and River Tunnell from post-punk group Spy Glass Blüe, and Kris Rosentrater, the percussionist for a band called Immigrant and one-time collaborator with Spy Glass Blüe.
In 1999, Flaming Fish Music released a compilation of “golden era” Audio Paradox tracks on CD, collecting many of the tracks that had previously appeared on the aforementioned various artists’ releases (and including one exclusive track, “Threshold”). Despite being a “best of” release, this disc is one of my favorites to come out of the Christian industrial scene, in no small part because of the quality of the songwriting and Pyle’s vocal performance throughout. I was first introduced to Audio Paradox through another Flaming Fish release and one of the best compilations in the scene, 1998’s Lethal Injection (separate post in progress detailing that release), which featured the then-exclusive track “Transgression”. That compilation is quite good, but that track was killer and hands-down my favorite from that disc. I sought out the subsequent compilation of Audio Paradox, The Iniquity of Time, and instantly fell in love with it.
The collection starts with “Time to Burn”, a mid-tempo electro-industrial track that gets in your face right out of the gate with its persistent, percussive synth line and Pyle’s deep, brooding gothic vocals, backed by some futuristic-sounding effects. Everything in this track builds to the last minute or so, where the drum programming finally lets loose and assaults you with a dance-heavy breakdown. An amazing opener, if there ever was one, and one of my favorites on this CD.
The second track is titled “Collision” and features heavy samples of electric guitar, the track itself approaching industrial rock or industrial metal territory, although the underlying electronics of EBM / electro-industrial are still present. Pyle’s harsh vocals take center stage here, more angrily spoken than sung, and he teases the higher end of his range towards the middle of the track. There are a couple brief breakbeat interludes that help break up the repetitive but catchy instrumental. Again, another standout here, and the CD title comes from a line in the second verse.
“Parasitic”, presented in its original form, is up next, and what a track it is. It’s instantly catchy and danceable, that trademark electro-industrial / industrial rock fusion that Audio Paradox is known for. Something that becomes apparent here are the many layers that are included in all of the tracks on this disc; here, the highlights are the super funky bassline in the chorus and the electronic trills that draw attention to the growled, raspy vocals. This was the track that helped solidify Audio Paradox as a fan favorite, appearing on four separate compilations in just two years, and it’s yet another standout track (sensing a theme yet?).
And now, my favorite track from this group. “Transgression” opens quietly, with a sort of electronic distortion that is reminiscent of an abstracted science-fiction rocket launch (it makes sense to me, okay?), before breaking into a slow blend of thundering percussion and theatrical synths. This track, more than any other, has a very heavy gothic and glam influence, especially noticeable in the vocal delivery and the occasional guitar sample (and check out that chugging bass in the chorus!). The lyrics for this track are some of the most memorable on the disc, too. Here’s the full chorus:
The voices in your head /
Taken to the edge /
You don’t know how to feel /
Or what tomorrow holds /
You’re risking everything /
Your head is high, too high for you /
Completely stricken /
Changing with transgression
It’s hard to overstate how much I love this and how often I think of these lines. This verse, too, has stuck with me many years after I first heard it:
Every inflection, every subtle move /
You’re flashing the pan /
But the spirit can break the chains /
Are you looking to heaven?
The track ends with some skittering snare programming and a dark ambient background that truly elevates this to an epic, almost solemn level. It gives me the chills every time I listen, which means I get the chills quite often.
“Grace One” rounds out the first half of this compilation, and it’s an upbeat, danceable number with catchy industrial-influenced guitar and a pounding percussion section. As with the first four tracks, Pyle delivers another inspired vocal performance, retaining some of his gothic tone but moreso embracing the rock aspect, which fits very well here. There’s a small, Middle Eastern-inspired guitar solo towards the end of this track that adds a bit of flair and mystique, which I quite enjoy.
The second half of this disc, I’m sorry to say, is not quite as strong as the first half. “Underlines” is track 6, and it has a completely different sound from the hard-hitting electro-industrial rock prior. It is some instrumental, meandering blend of space ambient and progressive electronic. If not for the nearly five minutes’ duration, it would serve as a decent interlude between the two halves of the album, but unfortunately it comes across as filler despite the neat atmosphere.
“Cached Influx”, thankfully, is a quick return to form, with its upbeat acid techno influence juxtaposed with the re-introduction of Pyle’s gnarly vocal delivery. Spooky instrumental breaks bookend the verses amidst swirling synths and four-on-the-floor beats, creating a wild electro-gothic atmosphere that is wholly unique among the tracks here. This track took a while to grow on me initially, but I find myself coming back to it more frequently these days, partially due to the unforgettable chorus that is repeated over and over, drilling itself into your head:
Mainline mediocrity /
This is the image /
This is what you sell
The next track is exclusive to this release, as best as I can tell, and, unfortunately, it’s another sleepy ambient number that flows and warbles and doesn’t do much else. “Threshold” does end with a sound collage of backwards-tracked spoken word that adds an interesting texture, but it’s not enough to rescue the track from itself.
A spidery synth line opens the ninth track, “Ageless”, followed quickly by a funky bass and electric guitar one-two punch. Unusually, this track has several instances of dialogue samples (“Forced… by sound waves”), which Audio Paradox doesn’t typically use, especially compared to contemporaries like Voxis, A Different Kind of Cop, and The Way Sect Bloom. The track itself has a sort of hip-hop rhythm to it, kind of similar to fellow Flaming Fish project Cult of Jester (which I suppose makes sense, as of Cult of Jester mastermind Ed Finkler apparently mastered this release). “Ageless” also has a guitar solo from River Tunnell towards the end with call and response (and occasionally double-tracked, to boot) vocals from Pyle, which, in my mind, makes me believe that this should have been the closing track.
It isn’t, however; we’re instead treated to the “Fistful of Spaghetti Mix” of “Parasitic”, which still sounds somewhat like the original, although the vocals have been excised entirely. It begins with some orchestral stabs and heavily distorted bell tolls (or, at least, that’s the image they’re meant to conjure) before exploding into an electro-industrial frenzy of percussion, electronic bleeps and bloops, and the same underlying melodic line on the original track’s early instrumental pause, which sounds like an electric organ of some kind. Unfortunately, the awesome bass line and electronic rock guitar don’t seem to be present in this mix. Although it’s the same tempo as the original, I find the remix inferior despite the admittedly creative reimagining, especially because it ends rather abruptly with a voice sample and a repeat of those introductory stabs.
All in all, The Iniquity of Time is a somewhat lopsided compilation of excellent electro-industrial / industrial rock with great vocals, marred only by the inexplicable inclusion of two ambient tracks and an interesting but ultimately unnecessary remix. In spite of this, though, the sequencing of this release is quite good and feels natural; for all intents and purposes, it is a proper album despite the majority of the tracks appearing years beforehand. It is one of my all-time favorite CDs to come out of the Christian industrial scene, and I revisit it frequently (often putting into heavy rotation after I suddenly remember its existence). And, happily, it’s available on major streaming services for everyone to enjoy.
Pyle has listed many different artists as influences, chief among them John Cage, Blackhouse, and The Sisters of Mercy. He has namedropped Throbbing Gristle, SPK, Cabaret Voltaire, Test Dept., and early Skinny Puppy as initial influences for his industrial writing and mindset. Audio Paradox, though, was his second project, following a post-punk band called The Eternal that Pyle started with a friend while attending school in the Chicago area. After the cassette EP, Audio Paradox had considerable local airplay in Dallas, Texas, where Pyle was living at the time (and where collaborator and bandmate Matthew Edwards moved in 1995 to continue work with the band). At one point, the band was affiliated with a Dallas / Fort Worth music collective known as T.I.A.M.P. (The International Assembly of Media Pirates), where Matthew Edwards also briefly appeared as a member of electro-industrial group Solemn Assembly.
2001 saw a limited edition release of a new album, Infinitesimal, which features much of the sound from The Iniquity of Time but with greater tendencies towards glitch and other electronic genres. Audio Paradox formally disbanded around 2007, although an archival EP featuring previously unreleased tracks and demos from the early 2000s was digitally released via Bandcamp in 2020, fittingly titled Two Thousand Five. Pyle is still semi-active under the moniker Aphorism, an IDM / glitch project, with one album in 2009 and occasional appearances with new tracks on electronic compilations. Around 2005, Pyle was a member of Mz O and Her Guns, a deathrock / darkwave project led by the legendary Eva O, the lead singer of Shadow Project and a brief member of Christian Death. In 2012, Pyle collaborated with the late Don Hill, better known as the IDM / dark ambient artist Millipede, in a project called Scrap/Grinder, which seems to be some semblance of power noise.