How important is the theme of a piece of music? To what extent do aesthetic choices (artwork, lyrics, stated concepts) colour the audience’s perception of the sounds? It’s a question that doesn’t frequently get asked in Metal, where the same basic themes are repeated by the majority of bands until they become taken for granted, but Metal-adjacent genres like Dark Ambient can make it seem much more significant.Continue reading
Tag Archives: Synth Music
3Teeth – shutdown.exe
Industrial music has recently had quite resurgence when it comes to popularity and creative output. The likes of Rammstein and Nine Inch Nails have maintained huge, euphoric fan support throughout their careers (with the latter of course reforming in recent years), whilst the likes of Combichrist have continued to show just how diverse and immediate a style it can be. Whilst not the household name of some of their aforementioned peers, 3Teeth certainly warrant as much praise for flying the Industrial flag into a new generation; having been handpicked to support Tool on the back of their début self-titled album (Artoffact Records); a tour that delayed the workings of a follow-up which only now finally sees the light of day.Continue reading
Lunatic Soul – Walking On A Flashlight Beam
How Mariusz Duda finds any spare time is a complete mystery. Not only the vocalist for Polish prog behemoths Riverside, Duda simultaneously has steered his own solo outings under the moniker of Lunatic Soul through alternate sonic landscapes. Despite most assuredly earning some downtime after the former’s most successful year, Lunatic Soul now return on yet another direction.
In stark contrast to Riverside’s previous album Shrine Of New Generation Slaves (InsideOut) and its more overt signs of 70’s rock worship, Walking On A Flashlight Beam (KScope) virtually eschews all remnants of guitars from its palette, relying instead of ambient electronica and synths, with drums and bass. Both bands may still be tied in their sense of mood and melancholy, and of course the shared talents of Duda’s distinctive and delicate tones, but otherwise they veer to different paths.
Opener ‘Shutting Out The Sun’ begins in an unassuming manner, with the sounds of light, crashing waves before it builds upon layers of effects and synths, shaping to an altogether more crowded form. WOAFB sees Duda really open up in creativity, from the almost tribal drum beats on ‘Gutter’ to the Eastern tinged melodies within ‘Pygmalion’s Ladder’, all still maintaining the album’s wispy atmosphere. Of course the star is without doubt Duda’s voice which conveys an almost unmatched sense of fragility and emotion in modern prog.
Whereas Riverside’s last venture saw the influence of the likes of Deep Purple, WOAFB draws a lot more from the likes of Tangerine Dream, both in its synth based structure and also in its ambience and inventiveness. Showcasing in its beauty a plethora of ideas which may be in some ways far removed from the more famous of Duda’s bands yet not alienating to its fans, WOAFB is evidence enough of Duda’s claim as one of modern prog’s great minds.
8.0/10
CHRIS TIPPELL