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Archived Reviews
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God knows how Noitekk keep on doing it but this debut album from the trio of Scott Denman, Alan Smith & John Gerteisen is another winner, fitting very snugly into Noitekk's established love of EBM with a potently darkly atmospheric sound. The first noticeable thing is that most of the tracks are longer than average, over 6 minutes in most cases (with the exception of the shorter instrumentals which may interest any horror film makers needing a soundtrack!) & this allows the band to really explore & stretch the possibilities of many of the tracks & while the opening "Deathkill" shows a good deal of promise without really taking off it's left to the dynamic "The Beating Of Broken Wings", with its dynamic, forceful delivery & particularly impressive climax & the stunning "Follow The Screams" to show what the band are really capable of with the chorus in particular making this a surefire winner & certainly a candidate for track of the year. It has to be said that it is all very derivative with Hocico being an influence throughout but even if originality is far from being the album's strongpoint the quality of the music soon renders this unimportant. Additionally the fact that the choruses often don't appear until half way through (or further), thus moving away from traditional song layouts to some extent, give the tracks a more pronounced 'epic' feel & prompts one to keep listening in anticipation of what might come next while the full sounding textures that quickly prove to be the band's forte work equally well during the pacier, action-packed "Mother Hunger" as they do on "When Porcelain Bleeds", the latter track again sounding a lot like Hocico. Still, when it's done this well you really can't complain with the greater tension that characterises "In The Arms Of Eternity" being contrasted by the haunting, almost tender feel of "All Turns White", where the lack of development actually works in its favour by allowing the listener more time to immerse oneself in the potently emotive soundpool. The title track closes the album with another dark electro dose with good bass & melodic work, making this another worthwhile offering to close this fine debut that heralds the emergence of yet another EBM band whose excellence cannot be doubted. |
