Just when you think it's safe to start making your end of the year lists something that I had been waited for so long that it slipped my mind came out. The new one from the Fort Worth synth drone duo, who really defies most genres , but that won't stop me from trying to peg one onto there dark brand of synth drive post-punk. On their debut for Relapse Records , the vocals are even more prominent coming out from behind the wall of murky effects and over driven synth swirl that dominated previous releases. Due to this the lyrics are more discernible than previous releases. Before you are too quick to compare them to Joy Division they are much more like a darker version of "Obscured by Clouds " era Pink Floyd. I read one review of this album where Mike Patton was brought up and I wonder what album they were listening to.If anything there is sometimes more of a Josh Homme feel to the melodies. They take on a heavier drive with "Special Dark" that finds their singer dropping down into a more ghoulishly goth croon. It's pretty murky even with the hammering pulse of sounds like a bass, but knowing these guys is more likely over driven synths thickening the low end.
"I'm All Gone " is the most reminiscent of their previous albums with droning groove, the generally balance out retaining their trademark sound while reaching towards new heights, but this is achieved much better on "Burn My Body" that follows. This song is more hypnotic, yet still packs plenty of punch and leaves room for the singer's croon. It spins out into something more proggy around three minutes in taking me back to the previous Pink Floyd comparison. This is also the first song that really hooks me in on this first listen. They returning to the creep of a more driving bottom end sound with "Everything Must Go". One thing that is different on this is the fact that I never think of this as being heavy as in metal.The vocals take more of a back seat here, not coming in until over a minute and a half into the song. The stay in the background like the ghost of Jim Morrison.
The title track continues the haunting of the Doors, due to the almost jazz like nature of the drumming.The vocals take a back seat in a hushed murmur. The hang on the same groove with the synth melodies bubbling around it. In the final three minutes of the song things get a little more intense as the dynamics build. The chant of "every things the same again" rises. While their Bandcamp lists the cover of "New Dawn Fades" the did for Cvlt Nation's Joy Division tribute its not on the promo I got so for the purpose of this review the last song is the kraut rock like " the Master is Away". It has a a big industrial strength beat , but not the groove. It instead floats on an opium cloud over the dmt dreamt city of the future. This could be from the Labyrinth soundtrack or really any early 80s sci-fi flick. For an instrumental it's got a nice surreal drugged out drone, but not a song I need on my iPod , so for the songs that will get more of a shot I'll round this up to a 9 and see how it holds up. If you are a fan of their previous work, they have not sold out by a long shot.
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