In a time when bands with no better use for drum machines and distortion pedals are jumping on the commercial industrial bandwagon and becoming little Nine Inch Nails clones, it's refreshing to see that there are still groups that can be innovative within the realms of the traditional guitar/bass/drums structure. True, Acumen Nation can be easily pinpointed as an aggressive, noisy, electric garage band, but there's enough effort in the music to make it something more than that. Simply put, we have the aggressive noisy, electric garage band sound with a twist of innovation, and a sense of trying to make sound art.

Acumen Nation were originally known as Acumen, but you know how these lawsuits go. They released two albums under their original moniker on the now-defunct Fifth Column records, and made several appearances on noise industrial compilations. More Human Heart is the band's third release-- their first under the new guise and their debut for New York's Conscience Records.

Since the days of their first release, the band has become much more polished on the production end, owing greatly to the mixing abilities of members Jason Novak and Jamie Duffy. On the side, Novak and Duffy take the tracks rejected for Acumen production and rework them into a drum-n-bass project called DJ? Acucrack, which has toured with the likes of Cubanate and Curve.

From the album, "Revelations Per Minute" demonstrates the newly slick engineering of the guitars with subtle sweeps of sound just before and after each grinding riff. "Fuck Yer Brains Out" shows off the other end of the band's technical skills-- whizzing keyboard sweeps fluttering past your ears while a barrage of thumpity snare hits play terror on your physical orientation by speaker-phasing on whim. Both are demonstrations of diligent time spent in-studio making sure the desired effect was achieved.

When the record falls short, however, it's usually due to too much concentration on the songs' production, rather than on actual quality of the song itself. The final product is consistent enough in style to be somewhat aggravating. The inclusion of sound effects, blips and tricks is enough to keep you entertained, but never completely overtaken.

If you're a fan of the grinding industrial sound, More Human Heart might offer you a change of pace from the incredible heap of Reznor-inspired discs filling record stores nowadays. But if the metal industrial scene isn't exactly your thing, stay clear.

-Skaht Hansen