Abstract Void "Wishdream" (2021)

 

 

Venturing further into the union of Synthwave and Black Metal, we find elevated production aesthetics that I'm not entirely sure aids the experience. My main gripe is with the vocals. On Back To Reality they served as an incessant groan, elongated barks of discernible noise. Not as intrusive, Wishdream's strides for clarity has the shouts and blemishes of ambitious drum programming break the illusion on occasion.

Otherwise Its a similar animated experience again with little to comment on in terms of progression and direction, its another seven tracks of nighttime adventure taking periodic plunges into the abyss. Glossy, luminous synths and flickering melodies eventually give way to metallic grooves. Dense distortion guitars are notably reserved, leaving much of the colorful charm with its energetic key arrangements.

 

Each song blazes along with similar arpeggio melodies and sharp synth oscillations. A few keyboard solos give some context to direction but rarely does the attempts to break the mold feel gratifying. Beyond the appeal of this union of opposing style, Abstract Void doesn't quite land on anything deeper with this next chapter, even though there is potential. Wishdream essentially serves as more of the same, fitting for the right mood but rarely breaking ones attention with its ambitions.

 

Rating: 6/10

Abstract Void "Back To Reality" (2018)

 

What do we have here? A Synthwave and Black Metal crossover. Is this possible? Anything in music is but that doesn't always lead to success. In the case of Abstract Void this union of styles is slick and smooth, a luscious mix of glossy synths, dense guitars and distant shrill screams. Together, they steer Dance grooves into aggressive plunges as Back To Reality gradually layers on the intensity in its opening stretch.

The atypical night life, neon light vibes finds its balance with an atmospheric approach to Black Metal where slow, lunging Shoegazing melodies bridge the gap in composition. Percussion steers the music into its extremes as drum patterns rattle into blast beats and the like. Consistently emanating dazzling melodies from the layered keys, each song has quite a luminous presence. Glistening in its well crafted resonance, they venture to emotive the grandiose with its epic scaling melodies. Very satisfying.

The harsh yet muzzled screams feel like an afterthought. With such synthetic vibrancy steering the musics mood, the vocals arrive like discernible blocks of noise barely contributing to anything rhythmic. Its a minor blemish of wonderful chemistry that does feel somewhat obvious in retrospect. Although a brilliant union of distant realms, its played down the middle, nothing unique or unheard emerges as a consequence. With a little more adventurous spirit this could of traversed new terrain but to these aged ears it mostly resonated with solid ideas heard many a time before.

Rating: 7/10

The Algorithm "Compiler Optimization Techniques" (2018)

 

Here is an interesting project that initially seems akin to the Djent Progressive Metal scene. Its another one man band operation journeyed by French composer and producer Rémi Gallego. The Algorithm, however, seems fundamentally driven by what initially appears to be aesthetic novelty. The chugging low end Djent guitars are sparse, dropping out for lengths at end. Metal oriented musical ideas play second fiddle to its EDM and Electronic happenings. The chemistry converges on a digital computerized landscape. Sharp precision percussion and whirls of spirally, spriting scaling arpeggio melodies serve a cold mechanical slew of soulless exuberance.

The songs play with binary grooves, fast measures of instrumentation traversing temperaments and tempos seemingly of its own whim with only brief moments of expression and voice. The Algorithm is impressive with its distinct style. Modern glitch sounds flesh out interludes as drives of Djent stomps interchange with whirling synthesizes playing out with a spirit similar to its psychedelic 70s origins. A couple spurious flashes of dance floor groove and other conventions arise along the lengthy journeys but the music mostly plugs away like an automation, a digital intelligence.

This cold, mechanical lifelessness is a double edged sword. Its many arrangements, which each song burns through, come in varying degrees of charm. The lack of physical voice and emotional through line give it little to anchor on. Its perfected VST performances are most often without humanity. Sometimes a wondrous adventure into something alien. At other times its a meaningless grind. A couple of great moment emerged. The end to Sentinel Node gets off an expression with a nightly Synthwave lead to conclude and Fragmentation drops its rapid instruments for a slow tempo brooding of cosmic darkness very akin to Oscillotron, a very welcome familiarity.

Rating: 5/10

Kero Kero Bonito "Intro Bonito" (2013)

Dazzled by the dense musical exuberance of Civilization II, I now venture back to Kero's origins. This debut mixtape, Kero Bonito, was quite the surprise! A warm, happy and pleasant record finding its inspirations in the mundane and putting a quirky spin on its simple themes. This take shapes on two fronts. Singer Sarah Perry, often interchanging Japanese and English, sings slightly spoken accounts of many passages of daily life, distilling simple thoughts and concepts into plain language. Its charming, carrying no burdens or hardship, an innocent, carefree and fun little journey.

Instrumentally this spirit is captivated wonderfully by its embrace of often bold and cheesy synths from decades past. Drums punch and kick away in lean environments with a handful of chirpy synths chiming in, often punctuated by timely pauses for brief silences. Sprinkled with cultural and stock samples between its shuffling grooves, the themes draw from a variety of nostalgia and foreign places. Housed in great compositions, its brash boldness is truly endearing. Even the use of old 8-bit cat and dog synthesized effects bashed obnoxiously come across as good spirited fun.

 

Its an oddball record, a mad house of silliness landing on a genuine warmth. Not purely quirky though, flushes of creativity and dexterous keyboard playing inject bursts of magic on occasion. Its also quite colorful, bright and uplifting, a record to steer your mind firmly away from anything troubling. My favorite track has to be Babies Are So Strange. Everything about this song is silly yet in a great spirit, landing with a slight sense of tongue in cheek deepness on the "Child producing machine, that's what nature has designed me to be" line. This record has been a breath of fresh air, so fun and easy going!

Rating: 7/10

Dance With The Dead "Driven To Madness" (2022)

 

With several years passed since my plunge into Dance With The Dead's albums, this lively return, polished of with an aesthetic upgrade, has re-invigorated my interest in the band. Bolstering their metallic adjacent temperament with brimming distortion guitars and equally aggressive synths, the duo pivot musically to something akin to a breed of Synth-Metal where the horror inspired Retrowave aesthetic meets modern Metal song structures and metallic themes in somewhat of a perfection union.

This charge of ten songs is kicked of by a symphonic horror treat as John Carpenter lends his classic theme melody style to the opening March Of The Dead. The record then shifts into gear, stomping down with chunky aggressive grooves, interwoven by stylish, creepy movie inspired synth melodies. At times it embodies an Industrial Metal temperament, reminiscent of Rammstein in places. This aided greatly by its gorgeous instrumental textures that make the music a pleasure on two fronts.

With crystal clear instruments churning away in this superb production, one will pick out favorites among the grooves and melodies but one thing feels strikingly absent, vocals! Somewhere early on there was a soft choral choir voicing used but other than that its a wordless affair that I felt really needed a persona up front to guide its verse chorus structures. As someone who isn't all to captivated by lyrics it was peculiar to feel its absence. With compositions being recycled and only the occasional guitar solo to give it a voice, I could really see a commanding presence at the front elevating the songs. Other than that, this was a much better execution of everything they had striven for in the past, at least to my semi critical ears!

Rating: 6/10

The Weeknd "Dawn FM" (2022)

Having made waves with his retro inspired After Hours, The Weekend returns two years on with Dawn FM. Leaning deeper into the nostalgia of 80s Pop music and aesthetics of Synthwave, this sixteen track dive sustains more of an album experience that its predecessor. Equally, without a spearhead song like Blinding Lights, it endures with consistency of mood. One can simply dip in at any point and relax with easy vibes, breezy cruising instrumentals and wonderful falsetto singing. So often do those high notes become the peak in this narrow range of creative avenues explored.

Thematically structured around the concept of an ethereal radio station, a handful of its spaced apart interludes play like broadcast ads. Decoded, its theme of suspension in limbo signals a direction out for the listener. Its a wonderful tie in, melding the overall mood with a bigger picture. The album doesn't peer into the unease or eeriness of the situation but essentially forges a link with its retroactive stylistic inspirations, as if the lyrical narratives explored reflect on memories gone by.

The lyrics themselves often linger on relationships, love and heartbreak with a common "looking back" perspective. Luckily his voice is charming, a soft and strong flow that can gracefully sweep between notes, lingering on them with emotion and passion in the vibrations. That's where the feeling is felt for me. Lyrically the concepts are often simple, straightforward and in the latter half of the track listing tend to feel rather shallow in terms of depth. The words recycled are unimaginative lines and sentences from love songs Ive heard done to death by many an artist before him.

Dawn FM shines consistently on its instrumental front. Its glossy, lush, spacy synths bring a sweet indulgence fit for its upbeat tempos and lazy slow riding grooves too. The easy going nature of Pop music is treated to an inspired aesthetic. The balance takes the better aspects of Synthwave tones without hounding them into the ground as many artist in this Retrowave movement do. On occasion The Weeknd and his production team lean hard into the buzz saws, psychedelic synth and punchy drums but its always timely and apt. Rarely do they loose focus on the underlying structure.

That brings me to the next strength of this record, song writing. Without anything to ambitious taking place, the stellar aesthetics and crooning moods seem to zap away the repetition and cycle of the verse chorus loop. Its there with the occasional shake up and interludes creating a series of soft "events" on the journey. Although not involved in song writing, Quincy Jones turns up for an interlude to see in Out Of Time. Its a seriously classic Michael Jackson alike song. It highlights a similarity in his vocal style with the King Of Pop and the instrumental pops like a PYT or Rock With You.

And that's what underpins many of the albums best songs, the brilliance of instrument variety ushering in soft plucks of guitar melody between gushes of vibrant synth and timely rock grooves. Its the subtle characterizations of Funk, Soul, R&B and Pop in the performance, beneath its oozy synth aesthetic, that make the magic. Its a true hail to the likes of Quincy. Sadly that is mostly speaking to the first half of the record as past the feature with Tyler The Creator, the gears shift pace quite notably as that song slows the pacing, cutting out the drums and transitioning us into a gentler intensity.

Its in this second half that the music tends to veer away from the variety and qualities heard on its opening stretch. The lyrics get watered down, pacing lulls on dreamy tempos and the Synthwave aesthetic grow into the main focus. We are not talking about every song but to my ears Dawn FM feels very front-loaded. Its opening tracks are truly remarkable and a peak of this era of music. Short and sweet would of been a better approach here, in aims of a classic. As a longer, drawn out, experience it does do a great job of suspending one in its spell. Either way, an impressive record!

Favorite Tracks: Sacrifice, Out of Time

Rating: 7/10

Lena Raine "Celeste Original Soundtrack" (2018)

 

Wholly impressed by the new Caves & Cliffs soundtrack, I set out to discover more about Lena Raine's music. Celeste has been one heck of a place to start! I've never touched, or even seen the original game. Having now built up a world of emotions absorbing its soundtrack, an interesting experience awaits me if ever I explore the source of inspiration for such this mesmerizing music. She has struck me as a musician with a voice that's unique, a niche that will take much time and many records to decipher. Just taking my first steps, I'm sure it will be another wonderful journey.

Aligning glossy pristine pianos with buzz saw synths vaguely reminiscent of chip tune aesthetics and an assortment of virtual instruments, Lena flirts with the joys of digital imagination and fantasy with the real emotions they can evoke. The deep feels are first felt on First Steps. The lush piano and swirling synth melodies allure and blossom with a swell of reversing base synth that just elevates everything already heard to a magical place. Following up with a nine minute epic, Resurrections builds steadily to an end section of bustling percussion dancing melody that is entrancing every time. 

From here a meaty mountain of music follows, totaling one hundred minutes of scenic songs flowing back and forth to its main theme with a few short transitional sequences between. The first stretch of songs bar the opening three drift into dark places. Scattered And Lost ushers in eerie horror melodies and upheavals of frantic drumming, quite the maniac vibes in brief moments. Anxiety pushes hard with its unsettling siren like synths and deep brooding saw waves before it collapses into a place beyond the pale, the soothingly sombre space of pain and suffering past by.

With Madaline And Theo we come out on the other side, ready to encounter the main theme again along with some seriously lively and ambitious instrumentation. It swaying from calm ambiences to busy, bustling layers of synth and animated percussion is wonderful, all with an emotional narrative that leads me to think this game is heavily story driven. With an eleven minute epic, Reach For The Summit, we are pulled into the final stretch as its big thematic swells leads us to satisfying, conclusive vibes with a teary, solemn ending played out through My Dearest Friends.

As a record, Celeste is a journey, a tale, an adventure, a remarkable one too! Its most impressive aspects are found in the busy and at times cluttered compositions that do not shy away from complexity or abrasion. It navigates them remarkably, holding onto a core theme and always having fantastical melody and direction at its side. Best of all its progressive song writing style keeps the music evolving and unraveling as even returning melodies and themes get reworked, told again through multiple lenses. Through all this the wonderment, adventure and emotional siring never ceases! Its quite remarkable.

Rating: 9/10

Izioq "Kyokan" (2021)

 

Three years on from Hey Listen! The return of Izioq comes with a big shift in style as this supposed game soundtrack ushers in moody atmospheres and a restful pace in the wake of its often upbeat, energetic and wondrous childlike playfulness. I say supposed because I can find no information on what game this is for, however it might simply be a creative exercise in writing music to compliment a particular vision.

  Having played the short twenty minute record often while playing Minecraft, I've found its composition to be minimally apt for conjuring a setting. Each track finds its flavor with the bare bones of instruments and percussion required, often leaning into the power of the space between sounds. Tonally they can be quite different acoustic guitar tones offering a contrast to the synth keys and snappy drums heard.

The album art suits its emotional resonance. A setting sun, the end of a day, finality, conclusion. Kyokan feels lightly sombre and melancholy. With no fear, dread or darkness, the music still comes from a place of warmth and safety but its odd poise suggests a sadness that sometimes visits at the end of something beautiful, hence a setting sun, bringing to end a day filled with joyous memories.

Rating: 5/10

Erang "Prisonnier Du Rêve" (2021)

 

Its album number nineteen for Erang! A release that arrives with a drastic stylistic shift, the first to truly shed the Dungeon Synth and Fantasy origins. Heading for a new adventure in the realms of electronic nostalgia, the pallet of instruments migrates to buzz saws, sine waves and all manor of oscillating synths to house a familiar sense of composition and melody. Initially starting out with a chirpy and upbeat vibes of childhood wonder, Machine Humanoïde reels the mood in towards familiar darkly Synthwave vibes of Anti Future and Songs Of Scars for just a few tracks. Its presentation and promotion, all conducted in native French, plays into the albums narration, a mischievous voice narrating the twists and turns that come about with each song. Of course as linguistic illiterate, this is just my interpretation.

With a more familiar middle, its start and end sections jostle melodies in such a predictable way that I almost want to abstain from opinion. The shift in pallet doesn't drift far enough for a surprise. Being this deep into the French musicians discography, there is little that of the chord progressions, arpeggios and general notation that feels fresh or unexpected. The production style also leaves little out of focus. With all its instruments and percussion crisp and clear, the textures of big bustling old-school synth waves overpower the focus and rather quickly does it overstay its welcome. Its a nostalgic affair for old school synth and early electronic music with spacey overtones. It doesn't always click when dealing with and aesthetic heard many times before.

That being said, Erang always has vision and intent. Emotion is ripe and present as one feels the realm they carve out for themselves. For me, C'était Demain and Demain Les Mondes ride the basics a little to hard on bare bones compositions where as L'avenir Et La Mer and Passage land the ending well scenic and soundscape alike compositions weaving between the melody led strides. Ultimately I've enjoyed Prisonnier Du Rêve for being what I like about this musician but the artistic stride for something new and different feels only knee deep this time around.

Rating: 5/10

Grimrik "Die Mauern Der Nacht" (2015)

 

My curiosity in Old Sorcery's use of retro synths had this artist recommend to me as a link between Dungeon Synth and old school electronica, something that I don't think bridges the divide but I see the connection. Grimrik has been one of those instantaneous connections that needs little explanation however its darkness is of a different breed in my opinion. Die Mauern Der Nacht, translated, "The Walls Of The Night" has deep and lonely astral vibes of unending exploration through the dark abyss of the night sky. The synths that make it so brood and meander on the endless mysteries of the cosmos with an undercurrent of eeriness manifesting in spooky synth tones and puzzling melodies that conjure its peculiar position.

Its slow, atmospheric, taking its time to unravel as arrangements of buzz, sine and triangle saws work in tandem. Sprawls of classic textures sweetly stitched together over airy choral synths and murmuring baselines conjure the sense of vast distances between stars, the unending voyage. In doing so the album is structured as one seamless piece of music, cut into smaller fractions. Its events are sparse as many tracks explore the bare bones through minimal layers of sound, drifting to the next movement, often given a little gusto through quiet percussion, which looks to do little beyond creating a framework for pace with simple bass kick and snare arrangements.

Its gleam and shimmer is charming but musically the record is quite uneventful and sparse. On one hand it plays into the concept, on the other it does get a little dull for this listener as its tone and temperament is one I have explored before with the likes of Oscillotron. On that note, this theme too I have heard through the likes of Arkhtinn and Darkspace. Its the same slice of sound that others have smothered with satanic aggression in the form of howling screams, shredded guitar chords and pummeling drums. In the wake of all that, I've found this flavor a little lacking.

In the opening phases recurring melodies lock it in for a slow but steady pacing but the music never crescendos and slumps in the latter half as songs take on a cinematic flavor with string led compositions brooding on a temporal rhythm. The lack of spectacular hiders it. As much as I love these star struck nebula vibes, the music never evolves beyond much of a mood setter for my taste. Great as background music but after a couple of spins it felt dull to give my full attention. Definitely a worthwhile check out but something I might not come back to until a long night time drive home under the those walls of the night sky.

Rating: 5/10

Amynedd "16-Bit Adventure" (2020)

 One to be wooed by the sway of nostalgia, Birmingham based Amynedd's sole release had pull for an era I didn't personally experience. Familiar with the Sega Mega Drive aesthetic, its lovingly crafted array of saws, sines and triangle wave synths fit the bill fronted by its contrasting album cover. Half retro game, half scenic view not entirely fitting of VGM. The musical lure were the compositions. Its limited array of tones are somewhat tiring but in paying tribute to an era gone by, some creative liberties in its glossy production, embellished percussion and soft reverbs hold it over.

Unless indoctrinated by hours of adventure, glued to the TV set as a child, a lot of this console gaming era's music can be gaudy and harsh in my experience, especially on the original hardware. 16-Bit Adventure initially avoids that folly with its firm bass pummeling opening track and subsequent mellow melodies conjuring spirit through an adjacent formula, free to greater expression on the following numbers. Its mood is scenic, intriguing and emotional yet as the record grows it seems to hail back to Synth-Pop inspired punchiness on tracks like Tractor Zone, Boulder Zone.

Popping drum beats, snappy percussive sounds and rigid executions lack subtlety, variance and measure as its instruments work on full velocity, forcing its way through the notation. Between them, Merrily Boats and Lilac Orchard swoon with mystic melodies of carefree warmth and adventure. Its this tugging back and forth the spell is often broken. When working with warm synths applied with timely decays, the music transcends as its layers of melody and rhythm pry into fuzzing warm spaces.

Between these more interesting numbers lay the songs akin to the Sonic soundtrack. They in their own right are fun compositions with great chemistry between the various layers of sound chiming together in good spirit but that shift in energy is jarring to the overall atmosphere. It leaves me with the feeling of finding enjoyment in a niche that's not mine, pretty self explanatory given my opening remarks. This is an era I missed out on but if you did enjoy it, you'd certainly get along with this. If not, you'll probably hear the inkling of something more meaningful and inspiring than just carefree fun. Its weaved its way into the more loving compositions, of which I enjoyed most.

Rating: 6/10

Erang "Imagination Never Fails" (2020)

 

Last year was the first since Erang's inception that passed without new material released. The French Dungeon Synth musician now brings us the eighteenth installment in this lengthy saga. The brief absence is perhaps explained in its eclectic opening songs and lack of manifestation to new territory. Unlike the direct pivot to another aesthetic like Songs Of Scars and Anti Future, Imagination Never Fails toys with new ideas before providing a variety of flavors from this mature, distinct sound.

With sampled narration, or presumably voice actors, its opening title track, A New Age Is Rising, Far Away and New World Slave adorn the music with promise of something carefree from the lands beyond limitations. Digitized voices reminiscent of Daft Punk and retro synthesizers whirling in astral majesty rub up against the atmosphere led by ethereal voicings. Crashing onto triumphant horns and percussive drives of ancient war, fleshed out with shouts and battle cries, Its as if anything is possible in this peculiar union of inspirations. It is unexpected but attention grabbing and fun.

 Then with Long Ago In The Hidden Kingdom we shift to the Erang of old, mystic and meager instruments play curious yet lonely melodies of eerie nostalgia and beauty with that particular craft. Its lovingly composed and as the songs roll on some excursions into percussion akin to "world music" as it might be called, help shape up its narrative, building up momentum and dropping out aptly, giving rhythm and movement to the fantasy worlds these tunes do conjure.

These songs are certainly nothing to gloss over, Shipbuilding Memory has a powerful uplifting sense of melancholy to it, reminiscent of Ascent by Brian Eno. The issue is simply familiarity, after seventeen records these additional numbers simply slip into the vastness of all that share their distinction. For a new listener however, these may be fresh and exciting sounds within the world of Fantasy and Dungeon Synth music.

I Would of liked to hear more of that opening intrigue. The narration gave a sense of direction and adventure, only recurring briefly on one other song if I recall correctly. The whaling overdriven guitar resetting the momentum on the opening track before returning with an arpeggio was a delight but a lone moment. Those initial retro synths helped shape a new path too but alas it was not walked upon for this listener. Listening to Erang is always a pleasure and always will be. I am just hoping in the future they can find new avenues to explore as that's where the excitement is! As it where in the opening four songs.

Rating: 5/10

Dan Terminus "Last Call For All Passengers" (2020)

 

 Its been a few years since I last checked in with the French musician Dan Terminus. Back then the Synthwave scene was still emerging and this darker flavor caught my ear. With only a few songs making marks, much of those early records have faded from memory. This particular niche in Electronic music is one that I feel often doesn't go far enough with many of the artists clinging close to the pillars of aesthetics that define it. Much of that applies again on Last Call For All Passengers, however its opening cuts aim for something with more of a percussive drive that is present throughout but makes itself known fresh out of the gate.

Kicking off with Oubliette, big slabs of meaty synthetic buzzing slam into the fray as baselines following its opening arpeggio. A harsh slapping snare drum, hollow kicks and snappy cymbals pound away giving structure to the choppy shuffling of hard hitting virtual instruments that dance between with a subtle reminder of those old jolting Dubstep drops. There is a whiff of something in the air, track two's opening melody and sense of groove confirms beyond doubt, The Prodigy have had an obvious influencing hand, pushing the John Carpenter Synthwave sound into club territory.

Its two persuasions don't add up for me. The dazzle of glossed up melodies, spearheading a spirit of pedal to the metal night life, rubs right up against the harsh deployments of hard edged synths and an Industrial like, colorless approach to their timely union with the thumping drum arrangements. It often plays with that loud quiet dynamic, yet the two don't compliment one another. An atmosphere conjured with one hand, is often smashed by the shift in temperament to grooves that don't feel all to fresh in the face of whats come beforehand.

On the aesthetic front its production is hard and crowded, often cramming sound in for the loudness effect. The grittier sound of its drums could do with some polish too. Its a game of contrasts that doesn't pay off. Many of these songs are embellished with layers of synths, oozing in slick textures that conjure visions of cybernetic cities from a dystopian future. They work in tandem, moving in directions and illuminating the neon glow but often thwarted by this return to a club floor banger mentality. That unfortunately dispels any magic for me and leaves this one feeling like an arrangement looking better on paper than in execution.

Rating: 4/10

Hexenkraft "The Infernal Schism" (2017)

The Infernal Schism is the second mini album from Synthwave outfit Hexenkraft. Its a pivot from the genres tropes to a far more fitting direction. The diabolical theme, present in name, presentation and sound, finds a different temperament across its five tracks. The pulsating, energetic, oscillating synths are deployed at a steady pace with a target on atmosphere and scale, as opposed to high octane onslaught that came before. Gone are the driving, thudding kicks and cutting snares of club EDM beats. Now the drum patterns utilize space as a weapon, casting a bare framework to build percussive tangents out of, many of which are rather gaudy and unsatisfying given the pallet of sounds. Clinging to them, a swirl of unraveling synths, buzzing and phasing across the soundscape. Loose forms of melodies drop in and out of focus and occasionally some heights are scaled by lead synths playing out a form of nightly adventurous solo. There is even an actual distortion guitar solo stashed in here too.

Despite this pivotal move to a steady, brooding beast, the same problems plague the music. Its overselling of the theme leaves a couple tracks out of color. It does however conjure streaks of gusto as its components align with a sinister presence, the likes found from the comfort of a video game. The final track gets fired up with aid from heretic samples. After its opening phase the song lulls with suspense as its synths steadily build to the unleashing of some chunky Industrial Metal style guitar emulating tones. Its got Metal fever and energy to match, a big bow out for a rather mediocre project. A lot of the record is meandering and without conclusion of direction. The occasional Doom snippets muster some excitement but unless in the right mood, often as background music, it doesn't hold up so well. It would however make a fantastic game soundtrack. Music like this often does and If I had gotten into it charging down corridors of a demon infested mars base, blasting weapons at beastly creatures, I'm sure id love it. Its a fair grade better than the debut, the shift in direction a fitting one but there is still a long way for this project to go in my opinion.

Favorite Track: Diabolus Ex Nihilo

Rating: 5/10

Hexenkraft "Hexenkraft" (2016)

With the discovery of Hexenkraft Ive stumbled upon one musicans diabolical answer to the retro inspired Synthwave scene. The music already tends to lean towards shadows given its origins in 80s Horror through the soundtracks of John Carpenter. Dance With The Dead embody that spirit and others like Dan Terminus takes it in a night life, cyber punk direction. This project however takes a clear inspiration from video game Doom with its satanic iconography and similarities to the soundtrack.

Its "evil" inspiration is far more thematic than felt, the record deploys no low fidelity ambiguity, wretched screaming or ripping guitars. It turns in the opposite direction, its synths cut hard buzz saw waves with instantaneous attacks and minimal decays for harsh envelopes to deliver a punchy, snappy, high octane experience of electronics. It initially turned me off, the aesthetics came across sterile and clinical but through its construct does emerge a sense of atmosphere and partially devilish semantics.

 The music has a core of firm tempo drum patterns that rattle off slick, hard, thumping percussive aesthetics over a triad or more of basslines. They groove in the form of razor sharp waves toting dexterous, textural oscillations off one another. Its a driving force in the low range that leaves room for its lead synths to queue in the melody and direction in the spaces above. Once again its achieved with slick and pristine wave forms, often transitioning through some form of phase effect on its journey.

The Hexenkraft name and evil intention is a little overplayed in comparison to the musics tone. Its final of four tracks does strike a nerve with an audio sample, probably from a horror movie. Two figures exchang dialog of diabolic inspiration and the ferocity of the possessed individuals voice brings a menace and danger the instrumentals don't muster on their own. Its been a fun listen but the name and nefarious artwork oversells itself in comparison to what other artists have done with this theme.

Favorite Track: Inspirati A Diabolo

Rating: 4/10

Jean Michel Jarre "Magnetic Fields" (1981)

The fun of this retro synth journey has begun to flicker as my interest wavers in these chirpy adventures on the timely frontier of electronic music. With this next installment we are introduced to an emboldened foray of punchier buzz saws and sine waves that come rather close to tones heard on the NES game system. Its a sharper, harder hitting record that starts of with an opening seventeen minute tangent song. Its got a cool temperament and darker undercurrent reminiscent of Oscillotron. Unfortunately it doesn't manifest in that direction and the music fleets through various arrangements with a lack of direction and disorienting cohesion that meanders.

With a lack of clear event, build up or emotional entanglement, the music can easily slip from focus and descend into a rattling whirl of animated synths zapping away in the distance. The second track deploys a jarring stereo shuffle beat of claps that dispels the magic of its lead melody which itself is quite the ear worm. The last three tracks expand the pallet and experiment with different tones, temperaments and sound sampling but there is little going on to resurrect my already lukewarm feeling. The first few listens were enjoyable but quickly it lost its charm. Oxygene and Equinoxe were a blast but moving to the eighties Im sensing there isn't much left for me in his sound, so I conclude my exploration of Jean Michel Jarre's music here.

Rating: 5/10

Jean Michel Jarre "Equinoxe" (1978)

In the mood for more of this nostalgic, imaginative yet primal electronic music, I picked up French composer Jean Michel Jarre's following record from the classic Oxygene. In the two years elapsed since, the music has advanced with a subtle refinement in composure and the evolution of bold and sharp, chirpy synths. In the brightest appearances they become reminiscent of Chiptune and 8-Bit tones in passing. The records use of environmental sound, wind, waves and the like are far more complimentary and overall the visions conjured resist any detraction from the quirkiness off these experimental noises, although blurbs, beeps, blips and barbs talk like an alien voice on Part 4 inbetween the sounds of limbs slashing through air like hasty karate chops.

It seems that in its beginning Equinoxe leans more so into the dark, paranoid and dystopian realm. With decades of music between this and now, what once may have been quite the shock now sounds more ambiguous and open to interpretation in the wake of progressively evil music. It has its upbeat and cheerful tunes too, Part 5 being a particularly playful, the soundtrack to an interplanetary cosmic fairground. These adventurous, chirpy melodies continue into the next part and then the record slowly finds its way to a darker setting before the roar of thunder and patter of rain leads us to the present with the sounds of French fairground music panning the stereo. It ushers in a contrasting conclusion to the record with more spacey, galactic wonder.

Equinoxe is seemingly a step up in production but it mostly spins similar ideas to its predecessor, which has quite the impact on first listen. Its an enjoyable record, the atmosphere and adventure is ripe and vivid but also novelty too. I can't help but feel I'll enjoy each record less as the wonder of a fresh stylistic pallet subsides. I spend a fair amount of time with these records, maybe ten or more spins before I write these blogs and Its music like this I'm sure you can form strong bonds with if it fills a gap in your musical experience or arrives at the right time. For all my listenss little has stuck with me in terms of its key melodies, they mostly fall back into the tapestry of instruments that make up its atmosphere.

Rating: 6/10

Jean Michel Jarre "Oxygene" (1976)

Early synthesizer music has always fascinated me, the likes of Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream have been a pleasure for years so its always a delight to stumble onto some of these old records where electronic music sounded vastly different from today. Retro synth tones and soundscape ideals, an embracing of ambience and the imagination make these records starkly different from what else was available at the time, Its a true fascination to hear these early artists and their emerging visions. French composer Jean Michel Jarre certainly had a finger on the pulse and this forty minute classic is a delightful work that still holds up well to this day.

Its six songs flow like a river. The whirl of layered looped synth cycles buzz out entrancing and repetitive indulgences that subtly expand and contract as its various elements slowly shift over the songs. The droning constructs give way to lead tones that play out like a guitar solo on a couple of particularly engaging passageways. Its percussive edge is varied from track to track. A range of synthesized emulations, hi hats, kicks and snares, sit softly in the background holding tempo and for large parts of the record drops down to a construct of two or three hits as it ebbs and flows into its different degrees of intensity, complimenting the mood and tone of his synths.

What sticks out like a soar thumb but certainly works is its use of rampant, rolling laser zap sounds and other "gimmicky" synthesized noises that are hashed in. The chirps of birds, calls of dolphins and husky whispering electronic waves wash into the music with a firm boldness that add to the atmosphere despite being clunky in nature. Its the underlying melodies that rise up from a repetitive foundation that make the music transformative, giving it sparks. Within the lure of chilled out, indulgent atmospheres, mysterious, new age synth tones played with curiosity, always emerges a lead instrument, sometime two in tandem, to follow and make sense of the scenic sounds.

Its a marvelous listening experience that visits six distinct chapters, of which four was immediately recognizable. It dives straight into a memorable lead melody that was very familiar. I couldn't find any movie soundtracks I suspected I might know it from but it did feature in the GTA IV soundtrack so perhaps that is where the familiarity extends from. All in all its just a fantastic gem of a record that any lover of electronic, retro or ambient music should take the time to check it. Its entrancing, indulging and full of vivid imagination birthed through sound.

Favorite Track: Part IV, Part V

Rating: 8/10

Dance With The Dead "The Shape" (2016)

After the disappointment of Send The Signal we jump forward to The Shape, the California duo's most recent album, which restores much of the dark and playful, EDM pounding, nostalgic Retro Wave to its prime. This record doesn't appear to revive the guitar leads and 80s Metal accents, instead it finds its form in a leaning towards the fun and comical horror of zombie movies and the like. Its key melodies play like a howl in the wind with a touch of the spooky and creepy, however the audience is kept safe from harm behind the glossy aesthetic of gleaming electronic instruments and the continuous thud of Dance beats.

Its a very likable record, it rests itself firmly within the night club as its relentless snare and kick drive keeps the pulsating energy flowing while its lead instruments explore the themes over top of chugging Industrial guitars that lay behind the dazzling synths to add some texture and force to the sound. Its a squeaky clean sound, polished almost to a fault as a lack of natural feel leaves the music lingering in a sterile environment where its monotonous pounding sometimes loses charm.

The mid song Adrift does an important job toning down the energy and giving the record some room to breathe as its punchy, fast attacking synths rarely break formation. Its organized, mechanical and industrious, all the parts of the machine fire on demand and leave the music without many organic or fluid moments but obviously that's not what its aiming for. Its a finely tuned engine blazing down the night highway, illuminated by neon lights reflecting from the towers of a never ending city. 

As the album draws on it drifts further from the undercurrent of spooky, horror related melodies that gave it some spice in the get go. It starts to feel rather generic and bland however its arrangement of sharp and keen synths keep a high energy engaging. The last two song bring back some guitar fever and Quietly Into The Night hits a high note as soft piano opens up a slow, open, atmospheric song that's engulfed by an epic display of lead guitar shredding. Its far from where the record but a great note to fade out on. Although the records theme doesn't last the stretch its got plenty of good to go around.

Favorite Tracks: Eyes Of Madness, Her Ghost, Adrift, Quietly Into The Night

Rating: 6/10

Dance With The Dead "Send The Signal" (2014)

Getting back to the Retro Wave goodness we tune in again with the Californian duo for a disappointing successor to the wonderful and vivid Into The Abyss record. Released at the end of the same year its a little longer in length at twenty nine minutes but feels stripped back in comparison. Gone is the enigmatic impact of guitar leads and solos that guide the songs direction. The electronic instruments don't feel as layered or dense in both texture and composition. Its essentially tapping into similar moods with darkly night life moods inspired by horror movies and "things that go bump in the night", without a specific characteristic.

Perhaps its a case of fatigue from two sets of songs that both stick very rigidly to formulas that work, bright and punch synths playing simplistic short melodies on repeat. Phasing synths and drum rolls help build up suspense and alleviate tension as the music raises and lowers the intensity frequently as it explores its melodic direction. Without a standout track and minimal impact from the muted use of guitars I came away from this record wishing that something could of defined it better since its blueprint is essentially the same as before. Disappointing but only in comparison, this style and sound is still fun and enjoyable.

Rating: 4/10