There’s nothing comfortable about Alfonso Conspiracy, the solo project of Hull-born, Birmingham-based multi-instrumentalist Max James. This debut full-length arrives as ten tracks of industrial metalcore that refuse to look away from the darkest corners of human experience. The Explicit//The Exploited is, as James describes it, “an album of two halves,” one addressing trauma, the other playing devil’s advocate, all of it telling his story.
James taught himself every instrument after growing up isolated from others who shared his passion for alternative culture in Northern England. That self-forged identity permeates everything here. This is an uncompromisingly singular vision, for better or worse. The influence of Nine Inch Nails (James considers The Downward Spiral the greatest album ever made) bleeds through the jagged electronics, while the crushing weight owes debts to Architects and the nu-metal of his 90s/2000s upbringing.
The Explicit//The Exploited opens with ‘Viral Infection,’ a creeping, unsettling intro that soon gives way to heavy guitars. ‘Chimpanzee’ begins with ambient sounds, as if we’re standing in a vast, darkened room. The Marilyn Manson influence is immediate and unmistakable. This track would translate fantastically to a live setting.
Third track ‘Neglect//Harass//Silence’ shifts the lens from personal to systemic. Opening with a declaration of war, it tackles institutional corruption and the complicity of those who stay silent to protect their positions. The lyrics question whether people would speak up if their livelihoods were threatened, painting a picture of systems that shield power while the vulnerable suffer. The production quality here is remarkable for an unsigned artist.
The album’s midsection features the parenthetical pairing of ‘(pathogen)’ and ‘(transmit),’ the latter built on pounding percussion and jagged electronics, capturing themes of disconnection and defiance. A fear of viruses and contagion seems to be a thread that runs from the opening track ‘Viral Infection’ through to the closer ‘THE GREAT PLAGUE.’
‘WHORE’ is the album’s most viscerally confrontational moment. The lyrics deal explicitly with sexual assault, shifting between the dissociation of violation and the violent rage of its aftermath. It’s not an easy listen, nor is it meant to be. James writes from proximity to trauma, channelling fury into catharsis. The title reclaims the slur. The narrator declares defiantly that they refuse to be defined by what was done to them. This track would sit comfortably alongside a Vended track. In fact, Alfonso Conspiracy would make an excellent tour support for them.
Closer ‘THE GREAT PLAGUE’ fires on all cylinders, with that Marilyn Manson style vocal delivery in full effect and a touch of Rob Zombie thrown in for good measure. It leans hard into synthetic textures and pulsing beats as James brings the thematic thread of contagion to its apocalyptic conclusion.
The album’s title hints at its duality, the explicit (the personal, the visceral, the trauma laid bare) and the exploited (the systemic, the institutional, those chewed up by corrupt structures). James moves between these poles across ten tracks, sometimes within the same song. It’s ambitious territory for a debut, and it deserves to be heard by more people. Once you start listening, you won’t be disappointed, so support this underground project and show some love on socials, Spotify, YouTube, and beyond.
For fans of: Nine Inch Nails, Architects, Korn, Ministry, Bring Me The Horizon, Vended, Marilyn Manson.
Alfonso Conspiracy’s The Explicit//The Exploited is out 5th December 2025.
