I’ve followed noisy UK sludge-hardcore duo Modern Technology since the very start – acquiring each of their vinyl releases – so I feel elated that I’ve now had the chance to work closely with them. With their drummer Owen Gildersleeve also running their label Human Worth, his passion and energy for getting this record out into the world outmatched even my own. This comes as no wonder because Conditions Of Worth is easily their biggest statement as a band to date. The amount of detail, raw emotion, passion and thoroughness that exudes from this album is undeniable. Modern Technology have dared to push themselves further than ever before, resulting in a compelling, exhaustive and cathartic work of art.

The duo’s creativity outside of the songs matched their ambitions, resulting in two brilliant music videos alongside film-maker and the band’s photographer Chris Purdie. They also collaborated with Audio Surplus Effects to design their very own guitar pedal, Lurid Machine – which sold out on the first day of sale. You’ll be hard pressed to find a more hard-working and passionate DIY band, and I look forward to seeing them smash ArcTanGent Festival 2024.

ACCOLADES
“One of the UK’s most compelling bands, Modern Technology return with an even stronger example of their filthy and raucous eccentrics on Conditions Of Worth. Nobody is making ‘noise’ like this in the UK today.”
~ GBHBL – 9/10

“Tenacious and fiercely independent. Part doom, part noise rock; it’s grimy but weirdly crisp and it sounds enormous. There’s a buzz in the air in the UK underground for this album.”
~ Ninehertz Podcast

“Incredibly powerful. Conditions Of Worth may not be an easy listen, but it’s a brutally cathartic one, perfectly reflecting the frustration felt by those with any sense of empathy, fairness or justice.”
~ The Quietus

FROM THE PRESS KIT
How two players can make this much racket just has to be heard to be believed. The bass guitar and drums duo MODERN TECHNOLOGY sound deceptively larger, louder and noisier than one could expect. The duo of Chris Clarke (bass, vocals and synth) and Owen Gildersleeve (drums) present their second full length album CONDITIONS OF WORTH through the band’s own rising Brighton, UK based leftfield heavy label Human Worth. Encapsulating influences of ’90s Touch & Go era noise rock, the grubby grit of sludge metal, and the ferociousness of post-hardcore – Modern Technology hit you with the same energy and volume as their lauded live shows. Marching forwards as thoughtful as they are sonically unhinged, Conditions Of Worth takes the duo’s voiced concerns and socially conscious outlooks further and louder, tackling issues including mental health, the effects of austerity, societal degradation, and the ever increasing climate emergency. 

Conceived behind closed doors within a world locked down throughout 2020, and finally recorded with Misha Hering at London’s Holy Mountain Studios in 2022 (which has also housed Idles, Green Lung, 40 Watt Sun and more) – Conditions Of Worth is a contemplative surge of seething fury, slowly boiled until the duo could no longer contain their exploding proverbial lid. Hering majestically reins in Modern Technology’s acidic aggression, capturing the duo’s most dense, textured and atmospheric offerings to date, showcasing the band at their largest, wildest and most empowered. Opener ‘Dead Air’ is crisp and lean, allowing the bass guitar a profound versatility, simmering in a fuzzy distorted vat. ‘Salvation’ is a new stride for the duo, with an epic doomy riff workout as its finale, bolstered by soaring synths as Chris Clarke’s monstrous vocals roar from cavernous depths. Even during their longest composition to date in the penultimate title-track, Modern Technology never meander, jamming out a barrage of menacing riffs and drums that crash like waves against rocks, commanding exhilarating elasticity in tempos. The album ends with the deranged tumbling absolution of ‘Believer’, leaving the listener as fired up as when they first hit play. Conditions Of Worth is Modern Technology at their most vital, free and assured – A melting pot of controlled outward societal anger and brooding menace. The turmoil of living in chaos colliding with the hope of change.

“The writing and recording of this album was a very cathartic experience for both of us. We were dealing with the emotions around the pandemic and both becoming new fathers, whilst we watched the world turn in on itself and global threats such as the climate catastrophe going largely unnoticed. We found salvation in writing and jamming when we were finally able to get back into the studio. The emotion, frustration and pent up energy we felt from that time has really been captured in this record.”
~MODERN TECHNOLOGY

Released on October 13th 2023 on Vinyl and Digital by Human Worth.

Photo Credit: Chris Purdie (1) // Vogon Laundromat (2)
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