Desensitized

It has barely left my CD player since. The beats are so rough and hypnotic, the vocals so abrasive, the guitars so crunching, the bass so cold and intense.

Diable kicks it off in superb fashion, the percussion taking centre stage, as with Ephemorel. You will bow to PSI's magnificence. Then it gets better.

Triad contains such a great guitar loop and passionate vocals, making it possibly one of the most arresting tracks on the album. Then is the killer bass and the dancefloor-beat of To Die Is To Gain, a sample voice repeating the title, with JS Clayden (the vocalist) sneaking up at you at the right second. These prepare you for (a higher form of) Killing, in my opinion PSI's greatest track, the pounding percussion and grating guitar\bass providing the meanest backdrop to Clayden's vicious mantra. If u liked Ministry's Burning Inside, you will love this.

Still with Pitchsifter was Jon Carter, possibly one of the most gifted and inspired programmers of the 1990s. His odd collection of samples terrify you on G.O.D and NCM. And don't let the length fool you, a whole 30 mins of blank space after Routine, there is Landfill, one of PSI's earlier, and most compelling tracks.

Now listen to me: 1)Buy This Album 2)Listen To This Album 3)Press Play Again 4)Repeat steps 1-3 until your cynicism and rebelliousness is cranked up to the full 5) Buy all of PSI's other albums

And so at the third attempt (i.e. the third album proper), PSI hit the target dead centre. This is full of top-notch tunes, not least "Triad", the one that everyone will know of, and the only one they still play live from this album. Well, they're missing out.

Keep watching.

This marked the debut of PSI making "music with a message", and the start of their fascination with technology and subliminal advertising. "Diable" tells us to "sit back, relax, forget it"; "Triad" is the definitive PSI anti-fascist tune; "Cathode" is still the longest track PSI have ever recorded at a weighty 7m24s, and all through it, "keep watching", as "we can tell you all the things you ever wanted to know".

Keep watching.

These are the ones that stand out; it was also the start of PSI's "quick interludes" era, with "Lesson One" and "Lesson Two" defining the subliminal bits in the album. It makes more sense once you've heard it, especially as the mantra in "Lesson Two" is immediately before "Cathode".

Keep watching.

Even better is where they saw the potential to remix four of the tracks; "Triad", "Diable", "To Die Is Gain" and "NCM" all reappeared in remixed form on "[ The Remix War ]" two years later, just before the arrival of the stunning "Infotainment?"

"Now listen to me. Listen to me..."

Buy this album. You will not regret it. Even if you've only just discovered PSI at the "un-UK" stage.