2022's Drive to Madness scored a 9, which found this project holding fast in the upper tier of the synthwave genre, evne though they do not have the more mainstream aspirations as acts like Gunship. They are paying attention to the kind of aggression Perturbator channels into their synths, as it has a very riff-oriented feel. The variations of this sort of thing are becoming a formula, and it feels like this form of instrumental music is going to have a hard time refreshing album after album without expanding the songwriting approach. Here they are changing the shade by a few degrees here and there with synth melodies nad accents, but not a huge dynamic shift.
This is why by the time it rolls around to 'Chao Theory," only three songs in everything are beginning to sound the same. They do take a shift from them by going in a heavier rock direction for the syncopated groove of "The Burial".They seem to alternate between bouncier upbeat songs that sound like they could be on the soundtrack to a modern anime vs the more aggressive riff-oriented songs where the synths are emulating what a guitar would be doing. 'Ghost Party" is more melodic and feels like an 80s anthem.
The last three songs kind of run together, sometimes taking on more drive, but largely working within the framw work that we are now familiar with, not just when it comes to these guys but the genre as a whole. When you leave this album just playing in the background, it runs together. While some songs are more defined. It certainly maintains the sound that you might be into if you are already a fan of this projet as it delivers what they do, but in a manner that maintains that rather than allows it to grow. For that reason, I will round this down to an 8.5, meaning it is well done and better than most, just nothing new
9.4
pst336
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