The same year that Nine Inch Nails found success by adding a nasty, chain-swinging edge to the dancefloor pulse of electro on 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine, Nitzer Ebb stoked those same flames and Middle American fears with their third album Belief. But while NIN engaged in a little seduction before breaking out the leather straps, NE got straight down to business, pummeling listeners with gruff, barked vocals and pounding music that felt like a hard, relentless fuck. The British duo hits Portland with a career-spanning tour that’s a nice accompaniment to the recent reissues of their discography.

by Robert Ham