If you like a lot of thrashy rock with just a small helping of electronics, this might be right up your alley; otherwise there is nothing that sets this apart from other rock bands where electronics are used. This is not an electronic-styled release by any stretch of the imagination, but songs later in the album incorporate a much stronger electronic element that make listening much more enjoyable.
Category: Featured Reviews
Unit:187 – Out For Blood
“Out For Blood” is more than just a nostalgic industrial record. It’s a powerful album, brimming with emotional performances and something that stands out in comparison with what most so-called industrial acts are putting together in their parents’ basements nowadays.
PRXS – Pink Candyfloss Fields
There are high production levels on this release, more than you’d expect for a self-release. But this just shows that PRXS has been in this game for a while and has the skills needed. You do, however, get the feeling that better is yet to come.
Molnija Aura – Utopian Suns
“Molnija Aura is an electronic ambient/glitch project of Davide Del Col and Andrea Marutti from Milan, Italy.” This is taken literally from the press release, and I agree with all of you that an opening sentence couldn’t have been any more plain than this. But there is something in that line that made me reconsider writing it a few times…
Pleq – Sound of Rebirth
The general feeling of this record may seem essentially melancholic and cold but, after a few times hearing it, you might be surprised and realize it’s also full hope and brightness, full of nuances and deep emotions. Actually, the best expression to describe how I felt while listening to it is the title of one of the tracks: “Swell Bliss”.
May Roosevelt – Haunted
Beyond just being an excellent record, “Haunted” expertly and memorably addresses the pertinent question of the role and influence of traditional music in contemporaneous electronic music, and is sure to appeal to a wide and varied audience, from electronic music enthusiasts to appreciators of world music. A showcase of excellent and talented musicianship, its main flaw is its short duration.
Empusae & Shinkiro – Organic.Aural.Ornaments
Though short, this is a great collaboration as a whole, with top-notch production and sound design – as it stands, it feels like an extended EP. Definitely a must for fans of either act; it’s not a typical Ant-Zen release, but if you like the more downtempo stuff they release (Zero Degree, T’zolkin) then definitely give this a listen.
Geistform – Transistor Music
It’s not often that I come across a CD that I have difficulty listening to in one sitting, but Geistform accomplish this on “Transistor Music”, their fourth studio album. Imagine this: high-energy, synth-driven, uptempo stuff, but with an underlying menace that is quite likely to scare off the usual fans of similar offerings.
the_empath – Meanwhile
Five years is a long time to get an album together. Sometimes the time taken is a good thing; otherwise, it’s occasionally disappointing. This is not the case here. This is time travel in music form – a varied, interesting and worthwhile journey for any electronic music aficionado.
Zero Degree – Probe
There comes a point when you just know what to expect from something when the press release quotes that movie, and not just the movie but that one line… “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…”, etc. It’s the ‘go to’ quotation for something that needs that moody, futurist sheen to it. In this case, the quote is very appropriately used.