This is an excellent album with a great variety of songs. There’s a brooding quality at times and a simmering tension with a dark industrial 80s vibe at times too. The drum sounds are excellent and processed really well and the bass and synth sounds are excellent too and really well layered. The vocals are often spoken and add a great edge of tension. Production is spot on, there’s great use of effects and an excellent sound to the album.
Crystal Rose
This song opens with a thumping kick and great synth sounds, which sound almost reversed. Distorted percussive hits and more defined percussive rhythm give a great momentum and I really like the bass and guitar. The vocals are really good, they give a brooding quality to the edginess of the song. Great production too, really nice changes in feel.
Smile Kill or Cry
A great rhythm to open with bass drone and synths, really good evolution of the sound. Has a more stripped back feel for the verses, the vocals are excellent suiting the style of the song really well – edgy and a bit unsettling. I really like the way the tension builds slowly with a final slow release.
Unrequited
Great bassline to open, the song is given momentum by drumming and background synth sounds. The vocals add a great tension, the song is really well produced with great layering and build / release of tension.
Time to Make You Mine
A delayed lead line to open with a string type sound, drumming gives momentum with another really good delayed lead line against a pad type of sound. The vocals are really good again, there’s great layering as the song develops and the sound is not as dark as earlier songs.
Angel
Synth and detuned guitar riff with swirling background sound give a great opening as the synth lead emerges. Processed percussion sounds excellent and the vocals tell a great story. There’s really good layering again.
The Piper
A great edgy opening, processed percussion has an industrial feel to it and there’s quite an urgency to the song. The vocals are great again, excellent layering too. I really like the way the song has a great energy and a bit of an edge.
Forever Girl
Great synth sound to open, I really like the syncopation with bass and drums at times. The song has a brooding, reflective kind of quality. Nice changes in feel through the song too.
Machinehead
The song has an uptempo bassline to open with a great movement in the sound. Drumming gives a great momentum, the song has a great presence and a kind of swirling feel at times. I really like the layering of sounds, vocals are spoken at times and the song has a great edgy feel.
Buzz Killer
Opens with a pulsating bass dropping into a really uptempo drumming pattern. This song has a more stripped back feel in the verses with great momentum and tension opening the sound up between verses really well. Excellent synth sounds are layered to great effect.
Devil’s Heart
Great pulsating bass sound to open with a simple kick rhythm and really good synth sound. Song has a stripped back and laid back feel which works really well.
System Error
Uptempo broken beat feel to the drumming which opens the song accompanied by great background sounds. Vocals and some great synth sounds add a sense of urgency with really nice build and release of tension. The song has an edgy, almost glitchy feel at times.
Clockwork Something
Great drone to open with swirling background sounds, again there’s a simmering tension to the song and a great atmosphere provided by the vocals. The song has a great tension throughout and some great synth sounds too.
Trance Dance
Uptempo kick pattern and a sound like a submarine to open with great momentum from bass and drumming, there’s a great movement in the sound too. It has an acid vibe at times and a psy-trance feel at times too.
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