C O V E R		R E V I E W
		I think it'd be funny if Illusion of Safety packaged their CDs to look like sugary indie-pop records. Of course, it wouldn't be funny when the suicides began. If your definition of music doesn't include darkly atmospheric sound collages, you probably shouldn't bother picking up Bad Karma. It'll give you nightmares. "Fuck Reality" starts normally enough, but the thundering juggernaut called "Pecking Order" is the sort of song that keeps younger and more sensitive listeners peering nervously over their shoulders in search of Lovecraftian nasties gibbering in darkened corners. "Limerance" leverages soundbites from news reports about priestly sexual abuse, while "In 110 Countries" lurks quietly and malevolently in the nether reaches of your stereo speakers, delivering its political message with soft-spoken deliberation. The three-song sequence of "Speed Brutality Honesty", "The Doctor is in" and "Inhuman" culminates in an industrial-strength drum sequence so intense, it could probably hurt you if you're wearing headphones. So why should you like Bad Karma? Because it's immersive, intense, emotional, disturbing and will elicit far more psychosocial response than half a dozen emo-core discs, and because it's an impressive work of sound and mood manipulation. Not every record in your collection needs to make you happy, right?
	I N F O
Illusion of Safety Bad Karma Soleilmoon CD
		Review by George Zahora

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