**1/2 Fever

TOO BAD BUT TRUE

(Digital Hardcore)

Staying true to Digital Hardcore's mission to create aggressively unlistenable music, Berlin's Fever debut with an album rife with oversaturated mixes and electronic abuse. By Digital Hardcore standards, Too Bad But True isn't mere Metal Machine Music: it's actually one of the label's more accessible releases to date. Fever bring the apocalyptic fury of Atari Teenage Riot to bear on hip-hop rather than hardcore punk. And hip-hop proves to be a friendlier platform for the jump-cutting beats and stuttering drum machines. Fever MC Paul P.M.'s delivery is equal parts Tricky and Busta Rhymes, only more dusted than blunted. And DJ/programmer Din-S.T lays down noise collages over off-kilter beats that aren't too far from the claustrophobic production jobs of the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA and Public Enemy's Bomb Squad. It's a little hard to take for 40 minutes straight, but Too Bad But True does offer a blueprint for hip-hop playas who are interested in getting as seriously aggro with their sonics as they've gotten with their lyrics.

-- Alec Hanley Bemis