Seething Akira – Sleepy Skeletor

Since emerging back in 2011 within the sea faring surroundings of Portsmouth, British crossover outfit Seething Akira has been teasing away at rich attention with increasing success. We suggest though that it has been a mere nagging compared to the hunger the band can and should expect with the release of debut album Sleepy Skeletor. It is a web of alternative metal and electro rock imagination with plenty more to entice and ensnare. It is a sleepless affair rousing body and spirit which even in its calmer moments has the body bouncing and imagination feasting.

Created by Charlie Bowes (songwriter/keyboardist/vocalist) and Kit Conrad (lead vocalist), the band has leap from local success to national recognition through their sounds and a dynamic live presence which over the years has seen them shares stages with the likes of Skindred, The Qemists, Hacktivist, Senser, Don Broco, and Pop Will Eat Itself as well as play Bloodstock Festival, Victorious Festival, Breakout Festival, Mammothfest amongst others. This year the band was chosen as one of five upcoming bands, alongside, Saint Apache, Damn Dice, The Rocket Dolls and The Sixpounder, to support Pitchshifter on their first UK tour in ten years. The Incoming Transmission EP of 2012 was when our fascination with Seething Akira began, it becoming so much keener as for so many others through their acclaimed 2015 single Airstrike, a song frequently eclipsed and more than matched by the offerings within Sleepy Skeletor.

Walking a fine balance between alternative metal, industrial rock, and electro punk; never fully committing to any but always entangling the richest traits of all and more, Sleepy Skeletor opens properly with The Monster from Brussels. Instantly the synths of Bowes provide an infectious pulse, the guitar of Harvey Ware swiftly adding its lure before the rest of the band jump in with fevered energy to create a Senser like confrontation. Thick and imposing, it is a captivating wall of temptation creating a grooved stroll alongside a Beastie Boys inspired vocal arousal rather easy to become addicted to, its tenacity interrupted by melodic washes of intimation and seduction.

It is an outstanding start quickly matched by recent single Matching Poles of Magnets. With steelier textures to its electro metal predation, bands like Axis Mundi and Silent Descent coming to mind, the track twists and turns with instinctive and rapacious adventure before Half Empty brings a warm calm to the senses. Immediately vocals echo this mellow breath with their melodic unity but equally a rising discontent in the heart of the song brews as things become more intense and irritable. It never reaches an aggressive state though, revolving through melancholic elegance and emotive exposure as a weave of rich enterprise wraps vocal reflection.

I Am The Devil, another single released earlier this year follows, instantly infests ears with its electro metal rumble and a hook which needs meres seconds to have us lustfully wanting more. Something akin to G.R.I.M meets dirt encrusted Pop Will Eat with the rousing catchiness of Hadouken, the track throbs and snarls as the rhythmic prowess and incitement of bassist Richard Ellis Speaight and drummer Stu Radcliffe manipulate.

Featuring Olly Simmons from Brighton band The Qemists, Backlash is next up and similarly merges heavy almost dissonant attitude and sound with electronic trespass as it prowls the senses. It is a predacious edge which never dissipates across the track’s mercurial but persistently invasive landscape. Another of the songs released prior to the album as a single in 2018 ensuring its anticipation was heightened; the absorbing encounter passes over attention to the outstanding Pack Animals. It too has a whiff of Senser to its emotionally and lyrically charged incitement; synth and guitar weaving an intimation of intrigue and danger around the threat of the rhythms as once again vocals irrepressible entice.

The character of successor Paralysed is similarly natured and conjured but swiftly evolving into a melodic croon and seduction which inspired even greater participation before the cycle repeats with greater volatility but equally greater elegance in its respective moments.

The album ends with firstly Even Angels Break Hearts which sees Dani Uziel guesting and finally Disconnect. The first of the two is a fluid blend of sonic antagonism and melodic beauty with Uziel’s tones simply beguiling, she almost like a siren luring ears into Conrad’s feral attack and the song’s tempestuous depths. The second provides three and a half minutes of electro punk metal thick in attitude and malcontent but equally rich in rousing energy and adventurous imagination.

Major attention upon Seething Akira has been a little overdue to our mind; Sleepy Skeletor should remedy that, arousing a whole new tide of fans to their insatiably and dramatically potent sound.

Sleepy Skeletor is out now; available on all major streaming platforms.

Upcoming shows:

Sleepy Skele-tour:

July 6th – Anvil, Bournemouth (Album release show)

July 7th – The 27 Club, Liverpool

July 8th – Mulberry Tavern, Sheffield

July 9th – Satan’s Hollow, Manchester

July 10th – The Underground, Plymouth

July 11th – Fat Lil’s Bar, Witney

July 12th – The Unicorn, Camden

July 13th – The Junction, Ashford

July 14th – The Sussex Arms, Tunbridge Wells

July 15th – The Joiners, Southampton

———————————————–

August 25th – Electrowerkz London supporting CUBANATE

August 26th – BYLINE FESTIVAL, Pippingford Park, Ashdown Forest with Pussy Riot, Badly Drawn Boy, The Vapors, The Blow Monkeys, John Cleese, Hugh Grant, Alexie Sayle…

November 19th – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth supporting PITCHSHIFTER

http://www.seethingakira.com/   https://www.facebook.com/seethingakira   https://twitter.com/SEETHINGAKIRA

Pete RingMaster 03/07/2018

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Energy Alchemist – Reminder EP

Adding to the list of fascinating proposals made this very year is the new EP from US quartet Energy Alchemist. It offers three tracks which within their electronic rock tagging embrace the essences and rich strains of metal, dubstep, and heavy and progressive rock amongst numerous flavours. It ensures each song is a tapestry of style and unpredictable enterprise delivered with a craft which together ensures that the release and Mendocino County, California based band stand out.

The brainchild of vocalist/guitarist/programmer Bill Hankins, Energy Alchemist is completed by vocalist/guitarist Julian Sterling, bassist Erik Koski, and drummer Matt Heath. Earlier this year they released their well-received album Ghost in the Machine, an encounter creating dramatic weaves of sound and styles upon a rhythmic adventure as bold and captivating as the imagination wrapping it; an adventure now built upon by the Reminder EP.

It opens up with its title track and instantly Reminder entangles ears with its electronically bred almost skittish beats and the tantalising tendrils of synths. As vocals join melody casting guitars in the blossoming track, a spicing akin to The Kennedy Soundtrack reinforces its lure. It is a tempting further increased by the brooding tones of bass and a scuzzier lining to keys with beats continuing to provide their hungrily persuasive and often unpredictable touch as the song twists and turns. It is a wholly magnetic affair which impresses more and more with every listen, revealing an entanglement of new creative hues and spices with UK outfit Axis Mundi brought forth at times as a hinting comparison to its electronic trance rock exploits.

The following Way Too Late similarly has attention quickly held, the two prong vocal enticement of Hankins and Sterling a potent invitation into the brewing drama of sound where metal nurtured riffs and electronic endeavour unite with a funk lined tenacity. That steel edge continues throughout the song, often giving it a bite and intensity which its predecessor lacked to take the Energy Alchemist down a fresh avenue without losing their creative fingerprint. As the guitars and bass, keys explore a broadening canvas where progressive hues combine with rave/dubstep inspired electronica to infest the imagination and match the pleasure spawned by its companions.

It is a reward especially powerful with closing track Flush, the song an apocalyptic trespass aligning strains of industrial metal and predacious heavy rock with electronic suggestion. It is also a web of warm temptation and poetic melodies which skilfully contrasts the raw heart and frame of the song, an invention further exploited by the stringed seduction and vocal dynamics interspersed within the imaginative ventures of guitars and synths.

Taking best track honours, it brings the EP to a fine and rousing close. As the other pair, it suggests that the Energy Alchemist sound is far from being the finished article but such its potential locked into the band’s already open craft and imagination and their sublime fusion of varying styles, an appetite for the band’s music is increasingly unavoidable.

The Reminder EP is out now @ https://energyalchemist.bandcamp.com/album/reminder

https://www.energyalchemist.rocks/    https://www.facebook.com/energyalchemist1

Pete RingMaster 24/10/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Beware! Monsters – Friend or Faux

An invigorating kaleidoscope of sound amid rousing creative dramatics, Friend or Faux is the debut album from British outfit Beware! Monsters. It is an encounter bred on a fusion of electro infused rock ‘n’ roll, rap, drum ‘n’ bass, and dubstep; like a fusion of Hadouken!, G.R.I.M, and Abandon All Ships but swiftly finding its own character in a provocatively fun album with a snarl in its heart and lyrical suggestiveness.

There is also a more than light touch of Semitt Falls to the Manchester band’s proposal which is no surprise as Beware! Monsters features former members of that band in guitarist Paul Kendrick and bassist Sidge Rushton. In fact vocalist Jay Kane was also one of the founders of the unpredictably inventive Semitt Falls, linking up once more with former band mates and newcomer in drummer Corentin Neyran for a new adventure in 2016. Beware! Monsters swiftly found eager appetites devouring their boisterous sound live and subsequently with Friend or Faux and its enjoyably intrusive and bold sixteen track proposal.

Book ended and broken up with ‘skits’ of evocative aural suggestion, the album starts proper with Make Wubz Not War and a deliciously heavy bassline with funk in its heart. As electronic and guitar cast essences attach themselves, the irresistible coaxing leads ears into a lively stroll abound with rock bred devilment and electro enterprise. With Kane’s rapping an equally persuasive motion in the thrilling scheme of things, the song sparks thoughts of previously mentioned Londoners Hadouken! and fellow Mancunians G.R.I.M but as also suggested earlier shows plenty to forge its own identity.

A mightily anthemic trespass on body and imagination, the great start continues with Truth, a milder mannered encounter sound wise but with a bite to its words and an underlying defiance to its intent as melodies seduce and rhythms bounce. Rushton’s bass again is an imposing treat more than matched by the frantic urges of the electronic antics around it and Neyran’s tenacious beats.

A wonderful nagging quality is shared by Kendrick’s guitar in the following Higher, its riffs and grooves a magnetic persistence supported by funk fuelled rhythms and an instinctive catchiness brewed in quick time by the aligning of individual revelry. With a touch of Axis Mundi to its body, the fiercely enjoyable track is followed and eclipsed by Beware of the Monsters, a pop rock scented affair with classical strains in its melodic endeavour and rapacity to its captivation loaded rock ‘n’ roll; it ultimately a resourceful carnival with the snappy raps of Kane as its side show barker.

The brief Project Dystopia is a similarly alluring affair at ease either snarling or roaming through ears in a reggae graced haze before making way for the punchy dynamics of A Long Way From Home, a track epitomising the album in the diversity of styles and textures employed in its imaginative carousel. Though it lacks the same spark as its predecessors for personal ears, the song is a compelling and skilfully woven proposition before the short almost gothic lure of In Ravens We Trust pulls intrigue into the waiting drama of We Are The 48. The track is another rock heavy slice of goodness with a predatory edge to its rhythms and vocals amidst the entwining of fiery grooves and smouldering melodies.

The Messengers of Deception rumbles and grumbles next without skimping on veins of seductive melodic enticement and its own distinct web of rousing creative espionage while No False Idol smoulders around another earthy bassline as an Enter Shikari meets Electric Six escapade blossoms into something fiercely unique and explosive to Beware! Monsters.

The cosmic toned A Revolution in Progress stirs the senses and emotions next, its intimate yet worldly challenge a tempestuous blend of rock and metal as at ease gently caressing involvement as forcibly stirring it up, all with a craft and invention which sets another certain highlight within Friend or Faux.

Closing with The Haunting is Over, a short evocative instrumental, Friend or Faux is one of those striking debuts which lingers in ears and thoughts long pass its presence. Certainly some tracks surpass others but from its first eventful second through to its suggestive last, the album is an impressive introduction to a band already outshining its member’s previous successes.

Friend or Faux is out now @ https://bewaremonsters.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.facebook.com/bewaremonstersuk/

Pete RingMaster 11/01/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Seething Akira – Airstrike

Like a raid on the senses and a mass riot for the body, the new single from UK rockers Seething Akira sets the world on fire in just three volatile minutes. Setting out the kind of tempest fans to the band’s fusion of alternative and heavy rock with electro and hardcore dub step are accustomed to, Airstrike equally thrusts its hellacious mitts into a richer and deeper vat of anthemic intensity and psyche twisting tenacity for one ferocious devilry.

Hailing from Portsmouth, and with inspirations from the likes of Prodigy, Senser, and Enter Shikari joining their own rebellious ideation, Seething Akira was soon inciting a potent and loyal local support when emerging in 2011. First EP, You Missed The Show that year showed the band was loaded in potential but it was from the Transmission EP a year later that they hit their stride in sound and broader persuasion. Live the band has only earned an acclaiming stature, the quintet taking in shows with bands such as Hacktivist, The Algorithm, Senser, Don Broco, Black Futures, Sonic Boom Six, Max Raptor, PWEI, and Heart Of A Coward over the years. Last year the Aggro Vito EP reinforced and pushed on the band’s sound and presence but for us Airstrike is the band’s most exciting and ridiculously involving offering yet.

     Airstrike allows no escape for feet and emotions, let alone voice, stirring them up in its first seconds and then dragging them into its maelstrom of energy and attitude. It spews increasing slavery through voracious rhythms, psychotic enterprise, and a vocal assault which makes the term incitement seem lightweight. The thumping beats of Stu Mealcliffe alongside the pulsating synth stabs of Charlie Bowes cast the first lure, their union unrelenting until the subsequent vocal roars of Kit Conrad and Bowes add their united antagonistic charm. The metal spawn riffs of Harvey Sneezeface Ware aligned to the predatory prowl of Terry Brown’s bass instantly turns the already virulent temptation into a beast of a proposal, their entrance sparking greater intensity and aggression elsewhere too. The landscape of the song continues to evolve and unpredictably shift, sinister melodic endeavour from the guitars sparking a similar air to keys before the dynamics at the heart of the song explode once again in a torrential and commanding cascade of techno trespasses, heavy duty rhythmic and riff induced incitements, and vocal belligerence.

Airstrike is a brawl impossible to resist and it is easy to imagine Pendulum being offered as a hint to the song’s might. But more so it has the hues of bands like G.R.I.M, Axis Mundi, and a dirtier Pop Will Eat Itself to it. Those flavours do bring a certain familiarity to it at times but that is countered and overwhelmed by the sheer energy and unique enterprise of Seething Akira. This is a band which just gets bigger and better whilst persistently knocking on the fullest spotlights.

Airstrike is available from July 27^th

Upcoming Seething Akira tour dates:

July 31st O2, Islington, UK *

Aug 1st Downstairs, Aberdeen *

Aug 2nd Audio, Glasgow, Scotland *

Aug 3rd Bannermans, Edinburgh, Scotland *

Aug 4th Warehouse 23, Wakefield *

Aug 5th The Asylum, Birmingham *

Aug 6th Academy 3 Manchester, UK *

Aug 7th Waterfront, Norwich, UK *

Aug 11, Knust, Hamburg, Germany *

Aug 12 West Park Eventhalle, Inglostadt, Germany *

Aug 13 Little Devil, Tillburg, Netherlands *

Aug 14 Hypothalamus, Rheine, Germany *

October 3rd, MAMMOTHFEST, Brighton

* Main support to Mordred on EU tour

http://www.seethingakira.com/     https://www.facebook.com/seethingakira

RingMaster 27/07/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard on Reputation Radio @ http://www.reputationradio.net

Axis Mundi – Sci-Curious

If debut album Chapel Perilous was the gas cloud holding the seeds to their genesis and the Science Junkie live single the spark to their expulsion, Sci-Curious is the big bang thrusting UK’s sound adventurers Axis Mundi into global recognition. An incendiary merger of aggressive rock, voracious rave, and untethered dubstep just to suggest some of its blistering invention, the band’s second album is a coming of age, a realisation of the potency in songwriting and sound which tempted before whilst breeding another strain of potential to even greater heights. A roaring celebration of science with insatiable riffs, hooks, and melodic predation, the album puts an already irrepressible proposition into the arms of essential investigation and devouring.

The trio of drummer Matt and guitarist/vocalist Gary Frewin with lead vocalist Shaun Garner first emerged in late 2008, taking little more than a year to become rated as one of the top upcoming bands in the UK. Originally a quartet, Axis Mundi earned an acclaimed reputation for their live performances and emerging songs. Already holding a passionate appetite and exploratory intrigue for all things science and its battle against the likes of politics, religion, and apathy, the Hinckley band worked closely with best-selling science author and New Scientist writer Michael Brooks during his election campaign against Hinckley and Bosworth MP David Tredinnick. Their first EP Find the Others caught strong waves of attention but it was with Chapel Perilous that the band really sparked a wider appetite for their sounds within the underground scene and subsequently more established media spotlights. Sci-Curious though makes it all seem like just the appetiser before its own main meal.

Through an attention raising Introduction, the album erupts with the instantly transfixing and highly animated opening shimmering of E-Bomb. Synths merge on the senses with sonically drenched colour and vivacity from its first breath, tempting the senses in league with increasingly tantalising sounds. Into its energetic and fiery stride the track dances around ears with a dervish like enthusiasm before settling into a more relaxed stroll within which the melodic tones of Shaun unveil the song’s narrative as infectious guitar toxins bred by Gary entwine their shadowed bait around the imagination. The sounds are as provocative as the lyrical view and its look at the turning away from scientific truths from those which choose to be blind. A masterful blend of electro alchemy and compelling heavy rock, the track is a magnetic tempest setting the album off to a tremendous start.

It is a potent entrance swiftly taken to another level by Movie In The Mind which emerges from the finale of the previous treat. Like a side show barker, Shaun coaxes in thoughts as a great niggling rub of guitar skirts his tones. The rhythms of Matt join the revelry soon after, his precise jabs adding to the unpredictable and intriguing showmanship of the song’s initial gambit. Just as immediate is the contagious air to the track, its irresistible call wrapping every note and syllable of the punk and metal kissed canvas beneath the subsequent rampantly swirling keys. Whereas the its predecessor had a feel of the Pendulum to its character, this plays at times like a rapacious merger of Pop Will Eat Itself and Enter Shikari, though as with the first song Axis Mundi have developed their sound to a point that first thoughts are always of the band itself when describing any of its distinct aspects.

The album continues to stir up hunger and passions with its might and established band sound as Science Junkie steps into view next. A favourite of seemingly everyone upon its release as a live track a while ago, the trio have understandably relinquished some of the unbridled urgency and rabidity which marked the original release with a greater adventure and melodic clarity on the album. The track still gallops like a stallion in heat, keys and guitars brewing up a techno maelstrom which is impossible to escape. As it sways, lurches, and climbs all over the senses you can almost see the invention of the song pulsating through its veins, its sonic blood rushing around the hypnotic hooks and seductive melodies which parade relentless across its ravenous body as glorious vocal harmonies between Shaun and Gary caress like a devious temptress. The track is a ridiculously thrilling encounter soon rivalled by the enthralling and confrontational rocker Shut Down The Rave. Feisty guitars and more sinewy toned vocals lead the track into another variation within the release, it in many ways a more straight forward course of electronic metal and rock but with plenty, like the acidic scythes of guitar and flowing evocative key sculpted hues, to steal the imagination all over again. With an antagonistic climax which smells of Rage Against The Machine at their best before a final bloom of seducing melodies, the song is a magnificent incitement.

As undeniable impressive as the album is already, the next stretch of songs secures its status as a classic protagonist. Springing from an informative sample, their use another pleasing additive to the album, The Astounding Fact unleashes almost ten minutes of heart racing, bone juddering invention but equally it involves elegant and sweetly melodic caresses between rabid outbreaks of predacious ravishment. Consistently evolving into and involving further anthemic strolls and almost Manic Street Preacher-esque like croons the ingenious provocative and unpredictable storm alone shows just how far the band has come in its songwriting, musical skills, and mischievous designs. It is just the start though as both What Do You Get? and Little Stories Of Discovery climb up to yet another plateau of persuasion. The first plays with that earlier carnival like premise of Movie In The Mind, though its intensive menacing onslaught of initial rhythms and guitar around discord blessed keys is a differing frightening prospect. Once the vocals enter to stir up air and lyrical dirt, a deranged fairground essence seeps into the riveting equation, wonderfully darkly tainted verses inspiring thoughts of Insane Clown Posse more than one or twice. Switching with a chorus cast in melodic rock, the song is a puppeteer of shadows and passions, the best track on the album though straight away challenged by its brilliant successor. It is a psyche /indie rocker which leaps and swaggers with the relish and craft of a Reuben and a Bloc Party aligned to the melodic craft of a Feeder, though despite those references the bewitching slice of invention is again uniquely and irrepressibly all Axis Mundi.

The album carries on enslaving thoughts and emotions though maybe not to the same heights such the brilliance of earlier songs but certainly the rich and welcomingly bruising rock endeavour of Only Genes Can Judge Me and the jagged reggae inspired canter of The Gospel According To Science steal their very fair share of the passions with their highly accomplished and skilfully coloured tales whilst the closing New Scientist brings one final undiluted festival of dancefloor igniting voracity. Within all the tracks the band again thrusts a middle finger to expectations with their enchanting harmonies and reserved melody fuelled breezes within diverse tempestuous stomps, and all constant instigators of feet and passions.

Sci-curious is an exceptional kaleidoscopic offering which takes Axis Mundi into a whole new realm of quality and instinctively invigorating adventure. You can only hope and suspect that the world will take intensive notice of the UK trio as they and the album dive into an insatiable rampage which maybe even scientific doubters will find no resistance for.

The self- released Sci-curious will be released on June 1^st

http://www.axismundionline.com

9/10

RingMaster 16/05/2014

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

http://www.audioburger.com

Desolation Yes!: Out of Orbit

Reaping the essences of electro, pop, punk, and rock with many other fiery whispers of sound in the mix, Scottish / Slovakian band Desolation Yes! has released their new album, a collection of songs which rampage with a hunger and instinctive need to provoke and confront. Out of Orbit is a release which perfectly satisfies with infectious enterprise and compelling energy, though at times it struggles to truly ignite the passions. Upon it though the band is experimenting and stretching their diversity with open imagination which is never a bad thing.

The Glasgow based quartet found an escalation in interest in 2008 when the band began working on their debut album, CyberNation with Scottish independent record label Neon Tetra Records, which was released in 2010. The singles Templeton/Instinct (2007) and Future Pop (2008), which subsequently appeared on the album, found a strong reception and soon found extensive radio play to set up the album release as well as a wealth of impressive reviews whilst the band shared stages with the likes of The Whip, Crystal Castles, Alec Empire, Howling Bells, NoMeansNo, Simian Mobile Disco, Jubilee, and Mortiis. 2011 saw the current line-up of Paul Elliott (vocals/synth/programming), Jagged (guitar/programming), Miro Cuba (drummer/percussionist/synth), and Shisho (bass), begin work on Out of Orbit which easily gives evidence of the time and thought the band put into it.

The album explodes with a bang in the ear through opener Shivers and the following Atrophy, both sinewy charges of electro rock with industrial and pop teasing. The opening song initiates contact with electro pulses and taunts before stretching into a rampant surge of bulging basslines and coarse riffs loaded with the expressive vocals of Elliott. The song brings restraint to its charge at times to allow a breath to be taken before the high tempo riot resumes but by its end the listener is found breathless and enthused about the prospects of the album ahead. The following Atrophy unleashes a more electro voice though throughout the guitars and bass add a snarl and bite to the synth driven wash whilst the beats of Cuba resonate with power across bone and senses. Both songs have an over powering feel of Wall Of Voodoo about them, in sound and in inventive use of aural colours.

From such an impressive start maybe a drop in intensity and temptation was to be expected and despite the likes of One and Silence being accomplished and satisfying songs they do suffer alongside their predecessors. It was a tall order to contend with and the first with its slight Placebo/ Stan Ridgway tasting stroll and the second with its emotive lure both are pale in comparison though as stand-alone songs find a firmer hold.

Repent with its Axis Mundi like mischief and industrial/trance like rock and frantic gait lifts things once more though lyrically it passed by only raising an eyebrow at its lyrical intent. Musically the song is an urgent and forceful agitator to get the pulse rate up once again, if still adrift from previous heights, and is soon backed up by the growl of Radio. From this moment the album slips in a punk attitude vocally and bite musically which fully grabs a returning intensive attention and appetite.

Army Of Flesh is an intriguing soundscape of militant drums and dramatic keys with image evoking cinematic samples filling its suggestive air. It is an excellent track which firstly exposes further diversity in the song writing and imagination of the band whilst its climactic vocal repeat of the title offers a Theatre Of Hate inspiration which in turn ignites thoughts and emotions in the listener.

Hitting the dancefloor with a brewing tempest of electro pop and thick imposing ambience, Psychoelectrical coats the senses in a testing expanse of industrial/synth rock with rich rewards showering from its melodic skies and burly veins whilst the closing pair of Tech and America ensures the release departs with a couple of challenging and provoking slices of punk electro power.

Desolation Yes! and Out of Orbit leave strong satisfaction and enjoyment behind if also a sense it missed an opportunity to exploit greater heights and fires within the listener. Very worthy of checking out though followed by multiple returns

www.desolationyes.com

7/10

RingMaster 04/03/2013

Theatre Of Hate

Digital Deformation: Self Titled EP

As great and impressive as previous album No Signal was, Digital Deformation has left it in the dust of evolution with its new self-titled EP. The new release sees Matt Powell, the creator and sole member of Digital Deformation, returning with a mightier presence, more intense invention, and simply greater titanic sounds. It is a furious onslaught of thunderous industrial energy, skilfully crafted ebm, and electronic passion, all thrust into songs which ignite the passions and moves the body into action like an insatiable puppeteer.

Since forming the project at the beginning of 2010, Powell has continually grabbed attention and greatly positive reactions. His early releases System Failure and Powertrips were harsh and gritty, their striking and confronting presences sparking good acclaim which No Signal built upon and elevated with ease. The clear control and craft which evolved across those releases has found another depth and sphere of creativity with the new EP, as well as deeper rampant energy to the still merciless antagonistic intensity.

Released through Static Distortion Records, Powell ensures capitulation to his magnetic malice from the first two tracks alone, both mighty oppressive intrusive assaults which ignite the imagination and enslave the heart. Homecoming begins first, its flesh tingling initial rub and sonic drilling soon in league with roving rhythms and muscular beats wrapped in potent melodic persuasion and electro hooks which snare the senses without resistance. Female spoken vocals splinter the track at times to temper the gruff spite of Powell but also to add an extra chill to the metallic charge. By midway the track is a prowling antagonist, searing the ear and beyond whilst chewing on the debris with an intensity as rampaging as the golden sonic taunts are seductive.

Forget Me takes no time in adding its abrasive splendour to the wounds inspired by its predecessor, its acidic squalls of corrosive energy and coarse sonic brew simply hypnotic. The track then steps back its erosion to free tight explosions of pulsating melodic spots, the electro flirting a mix of Kraftwerk and Rammstein, before merging it all into a bruising maelstrom of splendour which needs and gets a repeating. It is like a recipe, a layering of textures and flavours which bewitch individually and fuse for a heightened delicious satisfaction. Stomping with vehemence flying from every word and bone resonating beats, it is a glorious storm of fiery harmonics and intent violence.

Strong finds a fiercer furnace to its dance. It is less forceful but crawls within the ear to tease and test the senses with sirenesque female harmonies, vibrant melodic swagger, and a rabid snarl to leave its surface warm yet challenging. It is another diverse aspect to the varied and intriguing release which the following Occupy repeats in its own distinct manner. It plays like a hungry mix of electro hardcore and industrial, its hybrid gait thrilling the ear like a riot of Axis Mundi, Ghost In The Static, and Conformist.

The release is closed by firstly User Defined and then a remix of the same track by Axial Point. The original is an ever shifting tempest of ideas and energies driven by ear slapping invention and compulsive sounds. Featuring Lewis Collins of Ghost In The Static on lead guitar, the track unveils a soundscape which provokes imagery and emotion which varies from listen to listen but always leaves a residue of provocation to contemplate and be invigorated by. The remix offers a less intense take of the track, its more relaxed and drifting whispers opening up a meditative and tranquil grace to its heart. It is a strong and pleasing version but pales right up close to the inventive original.

Digital Deformation has returned with a mighty and irresistibly compelling release which leaves the imagination and passions fully quenched. Nothing else need be said.

https://www.facebook.com/DigitalDeformation

RingMaster 06/11/2012

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright