How Pitchshifter have changed with PSI. Formed in Nottingham back in 1989 by brothers JS and Mark Clayden, they were heavily influenced by Swans, their sound originally a prototype industrial noise, screaming samples constantly overpowered by relentless, sludgey riffs. No wonder they signed to Peaceville, then Napalm Death's Earache. Yet from 1996's Infotainment onwards, they stopped trying to bludgeon listeners into submission, concentrating more on grooves and melodies. And PSI goes even further down that route, meaning the formerly "unlistenable" Pitchshifter now have much in common with nu-metal types like Linkin Park and Alien Ant Farm.

"Stop Talking" may begin as trip-hop, and samples may flit in and out throughout the album, but the band stay absolutely true to Roxette's dictum "Don't bore us, get to the chorus". JS Clayden has explained that his lyrics were informed by his father's heart surgery, and an incident when his girlfriend, given only 8 hours to live, was saved by surgery, too. This adds a sense of defiance--"If you shut us down/We'll just get up again" from "Shutdown" being just one of myriad examples--that serves to draw Pitchshifter even closer to the nu-metal crowd. Did the world catch up with Pitchshifter, or did they step back to meet it? A bit of both, really. Whatever, PSI could easily sell millions. --Dominic Wills