A furiously agitated entrapment of industrial, metal, and electro rock, Visions of the blinded world (pt.1) is a fiery embrace to colour the way to an impending apocalypse. Its contagion is bred from the darkest corners of arcane themes taking in elements such as ‘time travel, dreams, out of body experiences and death’, but also there is a rich expression of human failings and frailties, all sculpted with striking imagination and clad in virulently varied sounds cast by Norwegian band Spookshow Inc. Imagine the world cast in imposing ravenous shadows feeding on the psyche and emotional turmoil to a soundtrack bred from a merger of Nine Inch Nails, Apollo 440, The Prodigy, and Skinny Puppy, though this is still a slim-line representation of the adventure abounding the release, and you have the rigorously compelling Visions of the blinded world (pt.1).
Just as enthrallingly veined with middle-eastern sounds too, the album is the result of a journey taking around seven years. The origins of Spookshow Inc. though go back to 2003 when Lucky Spook (guitar, programming, songwriting, producer) and Soltex (vocals) united and began honing a sound described as a mixture of Pink Floyd, Prodigy and Paradise Lost and increasingly influenced by bands such as Rob Zombie, KMFDM, Die Krupps, Skinny Puppy, NIN, Chemical Brothers, and those middle east sounds. Initially a duo hiring in additional musicians for their live shows, the band garnered strong praise as they played numerous festivals and supported The Legendary Pink Dots in 2005 on a leg of their European tour. The pair began working on Visions Of The Blinded World (pt.1) in 2006, being joined by instrumentalist Sharaz on bass and synth for the last songs recorded. Released on the bands own label Thunder Of The Distant World, the album makes a riveting introduction with a gripping invention and originality which is simply an inescapable temptation. Having grown in size with the inclusion of Seba to the line-up, Spookshow Inc. is poised to make a striking mark on electro/industrial rock; that is if anyone is brave enough to share their aural dystopian visions.
A simple resonating clang of twanging guitar is the potent coaxing bringing the imagination and album together, opener Games Of Delusion (art and religion) setting the exploration in motion. Its tone is soon swallowed by portentous caresses of haunting synths and percussive stalking, everything under a heavy air and slowly invasive atmosphere. This in turn is permeated with vocal samples and a warm and patiently waiting blaze of techno revelry. Its fire is given further freedom though still with a rein on its energy as jazz sparks flirt with ears and raw dance rapacity entwines the sturdy spine and enticingly rumbling belly of the song. It is a potent and gripping start, not one which ever explodes as it constantly hints it might but a track setting up a hungry appetite for more, a greed soon fed by New World Crash.
The second song instantly has a darker and more aggressive countenance, sinews driving beats whilst Soltex’s vocals carry a menacing snarl to his melodic persuasion. The sounds conjured by Lucky equally growl and sizzle with hostile 
predation and electro static, yet as the first track they never quite escape their binds to go for the jugular. It is a hold which works a treat, especially with the Trent Reznor like exploration which searches the darkest corners and elegance of the track. Provocative Middle Eastern spicery adds to the drama and invention of the outstanding proposition before it makes way for the even greater temptation of Scary Dream. Like a collision between KMFDM, Ghost In the Static, and The Prodigy, yet discovering its own identity ultimately, the track is an exhausting and ravenous tempest of energy and imagination, its electro rock tenacity and enslaving infectiousness the making of addictions.
Female hailing whispers and harmonious wails within another Eastern flavoured breeze opens up Falling Down pt.2, darker tones from Soltex swiftly adding encroaching shadows to the mesmeric tempting. It is not long before he turns them into passionate roars to compliment the increasingly evolving and portentous yet radiant landscape of the song. It is a fascinating track, one which has you fully involved and immersed in its spicy energy and adventure but then drifts away to make you feel there is unfinished business. Again it is a twist which actually elevates the song rather than defuses its potency, it seemingly revelling in the adage of ‘leave them wanting more’.
Things taking a chilling turn with Requiem For a Vision, where sinister air colludes with menacing vocal variety for another creative twist to the album. A progressively fuelled slice of intrigue and sonic unpredictability, the song is a slow burning prowl, a thick and sultry seduction which takes longer to get a grip on than other songs but emerges as a web of imagination and sonic trespass before the muscular stomp of Dead Shot Baby unveils its rugged charm and intensive rock ‘n’ roll. As much industrial as it is funky, equally as electronically powered as it is ferociously antagonistic, the track is a swift grudge of a treat before the psychedelically seeded beauty of My Secret Plan. Featuring Matangi Shakti, the song is a feisty shuffle of melodic elegance, Middle Eastern magnetism, and shadowed noir kissed enterprise. It is an imagination firing adventure where drama and bracing emotional espionage flirts relentlessly from every second of the album’s best moment.
The similarly thought exploring Cyberage keeps the creative theatre and engrossing bait of the album at its most incendiary, the song a caustically abrasing and infectiously binding suasion, whilst the next up Map Of The World glides through dank caverns and stark climates in its provocative crawl across the senses. The track is a croon from the darkest nightmares, reminding strongly of Fad Gadget with the gothic predation of Paradise Lost.
The album closes with the evocatively and sonically picturesque Other Side Of Time (Vision Of The Blinded World), flavours and sounds from a global tapestry merging for a tantalising sinister waltz. It is a menacing and thrilling conclusion to an album which gets better and reveals more with every listen. Visions of the blinded world (pt.1) is a labour of love from the band and an increasingly rewarding adventure for the listener, whilst Spookshow Inc. is a potential clad protagonist ready to help see out the end of the world with the embrace of their inimitable invention, an apocalypse sure to get only more colourful with the band’s second instalment of their journey due next year.
Visions of the blinded world (pt.1) is available now digitally and as a Limited edition cd digipak via http://www.spookshowinc.com/music and http://spookshowinc.bandcamp.com/releases
RingMaster 07/11/2014
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