Add N to (X)"s three-analog-synths-plus-live-drummer lineup returns for a sophomore go, handily consolidating the ideas that made 1998"s debut so intriguing. With Avant Hard they"re more precisely controlling of their signature battle-zone squall, but are divining new methods of upping the emotional amplitude, as well. In "Revenge of the Black Regent," for instance, waves of bitter regret buzz and oscillate against an icy marshal drumbeat, while "Barry 7"s Contraption" tempers its Spike Jones antics with a melancholy that you can almost taste. Fans of pure screech, however, take heart: cochlea-melting fun is still the group"s stock-in-trade. "Buckminster Fuller" sounds like Allen Ravenstine strangling a mini-Korg over a plus-pitched Sigue Sigue Sputnik sample, and blasts of Alec Empire-like intensity infuse "FYUZ." But for a group that raises bombast to such epicurean levels, Add N to (X) have brought into the mix an impressive sense of orchestration--even subtlety--that bodes well for whatever they do next. Can"t wait to hear what World War IV is gonna sound like. --Steve Lafreniere