16volt

In 1991, 16volt founder Eric Powell had a vision: He wanted to merge the gritty, primal guitars of garage rock and punk with the relentless machinistic throttle and hum of industrial beats. The result was a barrage of “coldwave” songs brimming with blips and glitches on 16volt’s 1993 debut album, Wisdom (co-produced by David Ogilvie of Skinny Puppy). Two more albums followed before 16volt signed with Mercury/Polygram in 1998, for which they recorded their fourth release, SuperCoolNothing, a metallic, rock-rooted foray featuring Nine Inch Nails member Chris Vrenna on drums and Bill Kennedy (Sepultura, Megadeth) as producer. Two weeks into touring for SCN, however, Mercury was purchased by Seagram’s and 16volt was dropped. Thankfully, Sony tapped the band to record the soundtrack to its Primal video game, 16volt self-released SCN, and Powell found a new label to call home in goth/death rock/industrial distributor Metropolis Records, also home to acts like KMFDM and Combichrist. 16volt’s latest album, 2007’s FullBlackHabit, is a fine return to early form for the rock-industrial outfit, and features guest appearances by the likes of Paul Raven (Ministry, Killing Joke), Steve Pig (KMFDM), and Kraig Tyler (Chemlab). Rumor has it some special guests will be in tow for 16volt’s Valley show, as well.