“Progress” Is A Punch To The Capitalist Gut

There’s protest music, and then there’s “Progress”. It's a track so sharp it could cut through a Wall Street boardroom like a hot knife through butter.

And Sound Strider isn’t here to whisper sweet nothings about revolution. He is here to set the whole damn system on fire.

From the first beat, “Progress” drags you into the belly of the capitalist beast. It starts off slick, almost sarcastic—an automated voice ticking off the usual corporate commandments: investment, testing, impressing the boss. But before you can say “synergy,” the track morphs into a seething, post-industrial beast, grinding and pulsing with an energy that’s equal parts cyberpunk paranoia and back-alley punk show.

Then come the vocals -part slam poetry, part street sermon, part unhinged manifesto. Sound Strider doesn’t just rap or sing; he preaches, shouts, and snarls his way through a dystopian fever dream, peeling back the layers of modern “progress” to reveal its rusted, rotting core. Corporate greed? Check. Environmental collapse? Oh yeah. The illusion of personal freedom in a world built on control? You bet.

And then, like a Molotov cocktail hurled through a boardroom window, we get the refrain: “F** progress.”* No metaphor. No dressing it up in poetic flourishes. Just raw, unfiltered frustration—an anthem for anyone who’s ever looked around and thought, Wait… why are we doing this again?

Musically, “Progress” is a Frankenstein’s monster of industrial, hip-hop, and electro-punk. The production is tight with every synth, every drum hit, every distortion effect feels intentional pushing the song forward like a runaway train about to jump the rails.

If this is the first taste of Mechanical Animist, then buckle up. Sound Strider isn’t making background music. He’s making wake-up calls, and sonic grenades designed to blow holes in the status quo. And honestly? It’s about damn time.

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