Nearly two decades after Michigan improv noise unit Universal Indians dissolved as their members began devoting more time to Slumber Party and Wolf Eyes, the three primary members of UI regrouped, adding fellow Wolf Nate Young to become Universal Eyes. The quartet assembled in a home studio with His Name Is Alive's Warren Defever at the mixing board and recorded an impromptu session, pressing it to vinyl a couple weeks later, just in time for the third annual Trip Metal Fest, where the quartet brought their form of sonic alchemy to the stage of Detroit's El Club. Four Variations on 'Artificial Society' is an hour of swampy electronics, corrosive guitars, and radioactive sax/clarinet, sometimes accompanied by the sleepwalking thud of a zombie drummer (or machine). Aaron Dilloway provides the sort of ogre-like grunting common to his performances and recordings, processed through reel-to-reel tape loops in order to give it as much of a nightmarish quality as possible. There never seems to be any clear destination or direction for the four artists, and there's nothing stopping them from heading into the darkest chasms of their minds. This album could very well be an interpretation of the anti-music of a post-apocalyptic future, created by the remaining citizens as a rejection of all previous forms of art or culture. Far from just a chaotic sprawl, however, a sense of inspired urgency permeates the album, keeping it tense and exciting throughout its hourlong duration. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi

1		16.44
2		15.13
3		9.22
4		11.16
5		6.23