Like The Unacceptable Face of Freedom , this is one of their angriest statements, and best. Musical highlights come in the form of Victory and Cha Till Sinn Tuille , mixing bagpipes in with the rhythmic drumming to produce particularly uplifting results. The two really strong tracks, however, are spoken pieces. Generous Terms is another text by Alan Sutcliffe, now looking back at the miners' struggle, and if anything even more frustrated and savage. A government that closes hospitals and opens nuclear air bases, that conspicuously favours its wealthy, its corrupt, its immoral citizens, while denying basic human rights to the majority.
Extreme conditions demand extreme responses.
As ever with Test Dept, the concepts are simplistic and the analysis almost non-existent. But the anger they bring to what they do more than makes up for this criticism. Polls showed consistently strong Conservative support despite the effects of deep recession. Tracks like Siege and Terra Firma are both musical considerations of human environmental exploitation and destruction. It's a variable album, although certainly a welcome contrast to previous releases.