Panic Lift’s full length debut album is a forceful, tighly crafted effort bound to explode a spot on the map for this artist.

Speaking of launchings,  this month panic lift will release his album debut, holding the title “Witness To Our Collapse” , which promises to have an excellent reception on the part of people, which is not  strange since the disc is simply brilliant. The official date for the release of the disc is the 26 of August

This disc comes as the debut from this American band of Industrialists, who is in fact a quite young project in the scene formed in 2006

In 2006 they released an EP, called “Dancing Through The Ashes” which was limited edition and only sold on the tour of the United States by the band in the summer and autumn of that year. In this 5 unpublished songs (at the time) that also appear in this album, and 4  remixes from some of North Americas finest exports (like Cenotype)

With an excellent balance during all the songs between the aggressiveness and the tranquillity, this is one of the discs that more are worth the pain between  songs. Quite recommendable!

At first, “Witness To Our Collapse” appears to be yet another permutation of harsh electro, yet the further in one ventures, the more they have to offer.

From its charged arpeggio down to James Francis’ vocoded vitriol, the menacing crunch of “Failsafe” is a by-the-books aggro EBM hit, while the relentless clockwork stomp and dismayed synth riff of ”No Trace To Love” is like throwing gasoline on dance fueled flames . Surreptitiously starting with muffled political diatribes and a staggering drum machines, guitars sucker-punch the listener in “Witness To Our Collapse” as it somersaults into a grinding power chord anthem where gristly vocals find solace amongst frothing metal riffs. With “Seasons Change”, Panic Lift play the trickster once more, offering up an introspective piano ballad whose pensive textures and listless trip hop beat  carry the somber weight of a first snowfall.  Still malcontent at keeping it simple, in “Hold On”, Francis attempts a heartfelt pop wail. Despite being slightly off-key, it still doesn’t deter its mighty trance bass line and defiantly shiny lead synth.

Even with an occasional misfire, Panic Lift score far more successes than missteps here in their attempt to break away from harsh electro clichés.

Here’s another band from New Jersey and another debut. Panic Lift is James Francis and he makes electro / industrial which is flirting a lot with EBM and the vocals are the screaming distorted kind.

After a short sixteen second intro it begins and it’s no mercy from the start, very danceable and pumping and it sounds like most of the other aggro bands, that was my first impression but after a few songs the whole record just grows into something totally different. If this doesn’t work on your EBM/electro/industrial dance floor then I’ll be very surprised. There are also softer parts on this album with clean vocals and that too is a bit “original”.

The tracks vary a bit in speed and in energy and track number nine is a real ballad. Some songs sounds like he has a whole metal band accompanying him, especially in song number six and seven who grows into each other in a really impressing way. This is really a good first album from this guy and I really hope he continues releasing records. So give this one a try and don’t be a quick judge because I’m pretty sure that about half way into this album you’ll be dancing your ass off…

Panic Lift is the dark electro / EBM project of James Francis from New Jersey . Following an EP release in own management Witness To Our Collapse is the official debut album of this project which since 2006 is a fast rising name on the New York  scene.

What is immediately noticeable on Witness To Our Collapse is the powerful and clear production combined with catchy tracks which contain effective samples and exciting sounds, which make this a quality release badly needed in this genre. The tracks of Panic Lift are almost all suitable for club use.

With regard to vocals and sound this release could be categorized near God Module but Panic Lift shows enough own character to claim it’s justified existence. Surprising are the clean parts in the vocals, like is illustrated with ‘Hold On’ which does not only make the intelligent use of sequences and sounds all the more convincing but also stresses the epic aspect of some tracks and ensures the sound will not come across boring.

Strikingly strong is also the sharp-edged guitarplay in the impressive title track and the pianoplaying in ‘Seasons Change’. Further highlights are the tracks ‘Everything I Have’, ‘Failsafe’, ‘Shelter’, ‘Remnants of a Dead Age’ and ‘No Trace to Love’. The waiting is now for a European release on Noitekk of this surprisingly good dark electro EBM album of Panic Lift.

Witness to Our Collapse’s opening song “Everything I Have” suggests Panic Lift could conceivably be characterized as a surprisingly ear-friendly amalgam of synth-heavy electro, IDM, and New Wave—at least, that is, until James Francis’s ultra-distorted vocals enter the fray and shoot the group’s sound into the industrial stratosphere.

Imagine the raucous howl of Trent Reznor’s scream squeezed through a meat-grinder and you’ll have some idea of the Panic Lift vocal style. The group’s spearheaded by multi-instrumentalist and programmer Francis who’s joined on the recording by keyboardist Dan Platt; live the duo are augmented by two percussionists and another keyboardist—a further indication of Panic Lift’s combustive, even cacophonous attack.

There’s no question the fifty-five-minute full-length (the follow-up to the earlier Dancing Through the Ashes EP) is well-crafted—each song is carefully arranged and flawlessly produced, and Francis even manages to work in amongst the hellacious swarm an emotive piano lick or two, not to mention a disco beat, of all things, during “No Trace to Love”—though ferocious throwdowns such as “Remnants of a Dead Age” won’t appeal to everyone. But Francis is smart enough to know that an occasional respite from the sonic onslaught is necessary and so also includes material like “Seasons Change,” a melancholy, rain-soaked epic featuring piano and strings.

More often than not, however, Panic Lift opts for crushing intensity: the title song alternates restrained verses that layer film dialogue samples over a downtempo funk pulse with hammering choruses, while a brief voice sample of Richard Dawkins kickstarts the raving NIN-styled stormer “Save Yourself.” If you’re taste runs to head-crushing beats, throbbing bass lines, and raging vocals, you may find Witness to Our Collapse worth checking out.