The dawning of electro punk turned out not even to be an electro diet (portion control)!

Portion Control from the UK was at the forefront of the upcoming electro industrial scene in the early eighties. Inspired by the punk mentality and the first experimental industrial acts such as Throbbing Gristle, SPK or yet Chris & Cosey, Portion Control themselves influenced electro giants such as Skinny Puppy or yet Front Line Assembly.

After an absence of almost 18 (!) years Portion Control resurrected with the double cd 'Well come' an album kicking with vitality and intelligence combining the original Portion Control spirit (somewhere between experiment and witty electronic pop music) with modern technology. The amazing new album got very good to excellent reviews (read below) worldwide and it took not long before Portion Control was invited by Skinny Puppy to open their London gig (2004), a memorable concert that was soon to be followed by appearances on a number of European renown festivals like the BIMFEST (B), Elektrixmas (SE), Tinitus (SE).

After the release of 'Filthy White Guy' (2006) Portion Control was this time asked by Front Line Assembly to support their European tour in 2007 and a year later the band was invited to play one of the biggest alternative festivals in Europe, the German WGT festival.

Meanwhile Portion Control released yet another new album called ‘Slug’ (2008)!

Some of Portion Controls classics songs are ‘The Great Divide’, ‘Rough Justice’, ‘Raise The Pulse’ and ‘Chew You To Bits’. Together with the excellent tracks of the 3 latest albums like ‘Blind eyes”, ‘Swerve or yet “Rough” and their stunning visuals a Portion Control show is a must see!

PORTION CONTROL
SLUG (CD - release date: 2008-05-30)
review by http://www.regenmag.com

In the past several years, Portion Control has done well to regain their status as innovators in the field of electronic music. While widespread recognition still eludes them, it has been to their advantage as they've operated as artists in the truest sense of the word, devoting their energy to providing the masses with an audiovisual extravaganza that adheres to no rules but their own. With their latest outing, deviously titled SLUG, the group - now solely consisting of John Whybrew and Dean Piavani - continues further down the path of experimental software synthesis paved by their more recent work, while still giving us a few accessibly danceable tracks to hold the interest of the casual listener. Of those tracks, 'Infant,' 'Defend,' and 'Rogue' present us with the trademark Portion Control EBM formula that has been so revered by bands like Front Line Assembly and Depeche Mode, stomping away with aggressive beats and bass lines that should appeal to the modern industrial dance floor. The same can be said of 'Cosh Boy Ver2.1' with its driving subsonic bass and disjointed beats that are just shy of four-on-the-floor, updating a track from their previous Onion Jack IV release. Other tracks like 'Unrest' and particularly 'Global' take a more abstract approach, less concerned with a catchy bass line than creating a pervasive industrial atmosphere; while the sounds are completely synthesized, there is a certain organic resonance to the scrapes and thrums that resound through these tracks. Even 'Cubicle' is a bit funky with its minimalist approach while 'Heavyweight' could easily be an industrial rock track if not for the lack of guitars, although such instrumentation is hardly necessary given the audio force the song demonstrates. However, it's on the more experimental songs when things get truly interesting, like the introductory 'Roast' with its clanging percussion and layers of electronic malfunctions and audio drive-bys, hitting the listener hard and fast with as many tweaks in two short minutes that you would normally hear throughout the span of an entire album. In contrast, 'Paw' is no less abrasive in its textures, though much more ambient in its overall vibe as swirling pads wax and wane amid slashes of broken beats, while 'Sammy Circle' presents an oddity of reverberating tones not dissimilar to a prepared piano with oscillating squirts of choppy samples and chirps of synthesized noise. In the end, the one drawback to SLUG is that by now Portion Control have established a recognizable sound, and while that's admirable in its own right, it does little to make the album truly stand out against its predecessors. Still, that's not to say that fans of progressive electronica and experimental synthesis won't find much to behold on SLUG, and credit should be given to Portion Control for their ability to augment these elements with an accessible vibe that would still find them a place on any modern DJ's set list.

http://www.regenmag.com 

Filthy White Guy CD (Release date: 2006-11)

Eschewing the Industrial atmospherics of their epic and sprawling 2004 comeback album 'Well Come', cult electronic music visionaries Portion Control take the covers off 'Filthy White Guy' : and what we have here is a different beast altogether. Leaner and meaner, this new album bristles with steroidal menace from the offset, kicking off in colossal style with 'High Visibility' a song in possession of one of the most killer bass lines in recent memory. Compositionally FWG adheres to a strong song based formula, with synthetic cohesive structures and gritty polymorphic rhythms incorporated into PC's trademark analogue sequencing : overall the effects are remarkable lending an added depth, power, energy and strength to the hard-sound aesthetics and the anguished, brooding Piavanni vocals. Furthermore across 14 tracks that display no hint of influence or compromise, here is a band operating their machines alone and unfettered by typical genre thinking, delivering a unique, innovative, updated and relevant sound that is theirs alone : others take note - this is how it is done.

Deserving to be name-checked alongside such luminaries as Depeche Mode, NIN, Skinny Puppy, Nitzer Ebb and Front Line Assembly, Portion Control's 'Filthy White Guy' is an album of instant immediacy and status. Its a given that no self respecting Electrophile should be without it.

Stansted CD-EP-DVD (2005)

Following the sprawling, genre-kicking electronic tour de force that was 2004's sublime comeback 'Well Come', electro originators and instigators Portion Control emerge once more with brand new Maxi / DVD package 'Stansted'. As a homage to the terminal buildings from which it drew its name its musical perfection - an architecturally dense construction of textured layers and gridded electronics. Maxi opener 'Blood Rushed To Head' bursts into life with Teutonic machine rhythms, phased vocals and spectral synth work ( reminiscent of early(ish) Skinny Puppy and more commercial Cabaret Voltaire ) while the second chorus brings on board a killer sequencer line adding to the overall oppressive atmospherics. Machine cold and claustrophobic its a fine way to start. Track 2 'Gate 57' ( also included in visual form on the accompanying DVD ) is an excursion into the darker, sculpted electro-ambience and experimentation found on 'Well Come' - synth drones, echoing rhythms and layered caustic effects / voice samples building the layers of tension and dread. Track 3 'Chew You To Bits ( Rebuild )' begins with an invocative chanting mantra that segues to an up tempo electro- almost-pop beat frame, with catchy EBM aggro-vocals enhanced by tight programming and a brilliantly simple ( aren't they the best ? ) sequencer line : Its infectious Portion Control at their best. 'The Way Out' ( of Stansted ? ) returns to the slow brooding dense construct of edgy electronix, while EP closers 'Blood Rushed To Dub' and 'Chew You Dubbed' offer amped up instrumental versions of the two club tracks on here.

'Stansted' gets further upgraded with the inclusion of a two track 8cm DVD transmission - rounding out the package with something very special. Two digital videos ( recorded at Stansted it would seem ) for 'Blood Rushed To Head' and 'Gate 57' offer cut up images, digital interference and blurred visual accompaniments that fit the songs perfectly.

As neat, perfectly presented packages of distilled electro come 'Stansted' is near perfect, as appealing to fans of hardcore EBM, to ambient aficionados, electronica experts ( fans of Hands will love this ) and most points in between. Never has the expression small but perfectly formed been more fitting for a release. Portion Control offer perfectly restrained electronic music and visuals with a unique and innovative sound design and presentation. (www.musicnonstop.co.uk)