Portugal's WASTE DISPOSAL MACHINE would have slotted in perfectly on that Alt-Fest line-up that never was. A three piece Industrial Metal outfit, they play distorted and machine-like music that would be the perfect soundtrack to being ground up in a Death Star trash compactor or teaming up with Blade to fight vampires. "Debris" is their second full length and while it's hard to imagine them ever breaking through to mainstream acceptance, it should certainly pick them up a few fans in the underground.

It's also very much an album of two halves, for while the first five tracks are performed exclusively by the band, the next five are all collaborations with a variety of artists from different backgrounds. This inevitably results in a rather disjointed listen, but it is nonetheless quite intriguing. After the cybernetic violence of "Infoxication" and "Stalkers" for example, the instrumental "Matrioska" actually sounds quite beautiful and serene. "Tabula Rose" on the other hand is an odd mix of mechanised hell, Indie vocal hooks and electronic effects, akin to R2-D2 being tortured.

"R[existencia]" however might be an experiment too far. It's a more mid paced number and despite some incredibly loud guitar work, does little more than plod along while singer João Gonçalves just sounds bored ranting over it. In contrast, Catarina Marquez adds a darkly seductive vibe to "The Wake", as if a band made up entirely of Cybermen brought Medusa in to offer guest vocals and "Indian Mountain" is probably the most starkly non-commercial track on offer; a relentless aural assault that doesn't let up for a second.

As for the non-collaborative songs, well they definitely fall into the Industrial spectrum more than the Metal one. "As Time Goes By (You Breathe Up Your Life)" for example, is a heavily digitised introduction with a distinctly EBM feel to it, but it's more COMBICHRIST than RAMMSTEIN and its difficult to imagine them finding an audience beyond the Cyberdog crowd.

The same can be said for the title track (despite a catchy ROB ZOMBIE-esque riff) and pretty much the rest of the songs here, but let's face it, nobody mines 80's industrial music for worldwide acceptance do they? WASTE DISPOSAL MACHINE are clearly dedicated to their chosen genre, and while it's unlikely they'll ever turn up at Download or Sonisphere, they'll probably be happy playing dingy clubs for their entire careers, so long as plenty of folks with glow in the dark hair and excessive make-up keep dancing.<