At the dawn on the eighties, Portion Control sat alone in the middle of a great big hypothetical field. One one side resided the commercialism of electronic exponents such as The Human League, Depeche Mode and Ultravox etc., and on the other side sat underground illusionists such as SPK, My Bloody Valentine, Nurse With Wound and the Legendary Pink Dots. Portion Control either couldn’t decide which way to turn, or weren’t marketed suitably in either direction. However, they’re still fondly remembered as an innovative, experimental electronic group, even if awkwardly lumped in with what one would call the Electronic Body Music / Industrial scene. Wellcome, their first album for a decade gives Portion Control the chance to firmly stamp their identity on to a more accepting 21st Century electronic musical culture.

Wellcome is an album of wildly fluctuating and diverse styles that mutates on an almost track-by-track basis. The double disc CD opens with the track ‘Pure Menace’, which is exactly what it says on the tin; as daunting, breathy synth washes are pierced by Kraftwerk-style pulses, a typical EBM bassline and morphed, twisted vocal samples. Then ‘Intravenous’ delivers almost pure Industrial-style nostalgia, complete with chanting vocoded cyber vocals, polished beats and motorised sequenced rhythms. ‘Paralysed’ takes this ethos a step further, into the Industrial wasteland of the mid-eighties hardcore underground club culture, where Nitzer Ebb, 242 and other artists of their ilk reigned supreme. It’s almost purely nostalgic, except the technology has afforded it a smooth, pristine edge.

Wellcome pretty much continues throughout, varying the styles and themes of these opening three tracks, switching constantly between atmospherics, sound experiments, the dancefloor and at times a slightly commercial egde. Portion Control occasionally bring their sound starkly into the future. Onion Jack 1 & 2 offer a combined 41-minute menagerie of music split over both discs, flirting with trance, heaving Industrial and morose sci-fi electronica. As I said, this album wildly fluctuates, this sounds like 10 years worth of material thrown into a huge melting pot of sound and ideas. There are tracks on Wellcome however that makes you seriously wonder how they ever missed the gravy boat. ‘Xfrontiervanilla’ is a beauty with its compulsive basslines, swirling, bubbling synthesiser patterns and sharp percussion.

Whilst Disc One is a fine enough album in its own right, Disc Two gives you another hours worth, and is even better than its predecessor. The haunting horror-flick atmospherics and big, clocked beats of ‘Barely Alive’ are excellent, whilst ‘Is This Me’ positively reeks of the earlier mentioned Industrial/EBM heyday. ‘Earl Of Kennington’ is another beauty, with its relentless drum loop and brilliant addictive keyboards, swiftly followed by the superb ‘Blind Eyes’, as commercial an EBM track as you will ever find.

Portion Control have somehow managed to deliver an album that is both supremely nostalgic and original. It’s a vast album that requires a lot of listening, but has a wealth of brilliant hard-edged electronic music to be devoured. For those who liked Portion Control the first time around, you’ll be ecstatic; for those who still cling on to the dying embers of an Industrial & EBM scene that is mostly over-populated by bad imposters, it’s essential. For everybody else, you could do a lot worse than give Wellcome a try.