Steve Stoll

Almost a decade after playing drums for Wax Trax industrial act Sister Machine Gun, the typically straightforward techno artist Steve Stoll opens up to his less-hip past in slight but distinct ways. The opening track, "First Impulse," appears to focus on a techno-esque rotating chorus of clanging percussion, but the pulse-quickening 1/2 beat betrays its leather-clad predecessor. "Supernatural" and "Broken Sky" are also built around beats that are more akin to industrial than techno, with the latter even incorporating an appregiated bass synth that could have fallen right out of a Skinny Puppy jam. Despite all this, it would be wrong to call Supernatural a regression. The standard techno pounders are still there in "Tomorrow May Never Come" and "The Prime Element," while "Speaking My Mind" proclaims that Stoll's allegiance to Detroit techno's melodic melancholy is stronger than ever. But unlike previous albums, particularly 1998's Blunted Boy Wonder, it appears as though Stoll dug much deeper, past the regimented techno march, and rediscovered his inner drummer. ~ Joshua Glazer, All Music Guide