“Manufactured intellectual disgrace.“
LA’s Purest Form, established in 2023, merges punk, heavy metal, and EBM into a contemporary industrial sound. Led by vocalist Story Beeson, the band explores dystopian themes and societal isolation. With Madison Woodward‘s beats and Riley Joyner‘s bass, they create a powerful, energetic atmosphere, influenced by underground music and cyberpunk aesthetics.
Lead single and opener “Broke” immediately draws on these themes, as the aggressive beats and distorted guitars crash against the ear. The frenetic vocals from Beeson lead the intense, high-energy composition of the track, feeling akin to the early Machine Girl albums such as Wlfgrl in their structure. There is a certain magic to “Broke“; it has a sense of feeling ever-so-familiar to these historical influences, yet being completely fresh to the ears in the current landscape.
As the self-titled EP moves into “Optics“, there is little letting up in its almost caustic sound. Guitar work that will set many minds back to earlier Nine Inch Nails, brimming with that energy that could take on the world. Sampling layers it way into “Self Destruction“, while Purest Form drive through the big rhythms that characterise each track, acting as a ravaging earworm.
Spanning across three tracks at a run time of just shy of seven minutes, it does seem there was potentially scope for more, with interlude work and one or two more tracks to give a ‘complete‘ sense to the EP. Outside of that, Purest Form have tapped into something rather captivating, meshing together the industrial, EBM and punk influences. If this project is followed through, there should be little doubt that it will see success.
7/10
Purest Form is out March 8th via self-release, and can be pre-ordered here.