| Artist |
| Object |
| Title |
| The Ethane Asylum |
| Format/Cat |
| CD |
| Label |
| Vendetta Music |
| Style |
| EBM |
| Date of review |
| 15th March 2008 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 8/10 |
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I've long believed that Andreas Malik is a most under-rated musician. He's already got two fine albums to his credit & this third, which sees him transferring to the American Vendetta label, maintains his high standard of infectious EBM that benefits from a constant stream of imaginative melodics & complex compositions, so much so that the typically harsh whispered vocals to be almost an afterthought. Right from the opening 'Future' it's obvious that his compositional skills have not left him (although I wish I didn't know that the opening speech sample came from one of the X-Men films!), drawing the listener in as new layers are added throughout to make for a memorable opening track. This works just as well on the instrumentals 'Celestial Circuitry' & 'Liquid Crystal View' which is important as the latter is over 7 minutes long while the film sample that graces 'Infancticide' are from the same English film (is it A Clockwork Orange?) that closed the previous album The Reflecting Skin so it's obviously one of Malik's faves! Throughout, this is a solid, consistantly enjoyable album with 'End Of Sin' standing out thanks to the excellent opening theme & while the track as a whole doesn't quite equal this brilliance it's still well worth lending an ear to while the melodic vocals of Respirance, who adds a Frank Spinath-like touch to "Existence On Trial' although Malik ensures this was never going to be some piece of future pop fluff. As the album progresses 'Cycle Of Time' adds a darker, almost psychadelic edge to proceedings (not totally unlike Pitchfork's Beautiful-Logic-Strings) while 'The Insects Sleep' succeeds again in capturing the listener's imagination thanks to some genuinely majestic passages & makes for a far more appropriate closer than either of the two remixes, from MC1R & labelmates Brain Leisure, that follow it. While each one sensibly retains the feel of the originals neither adds anything of worth & come up severely short when pitted against Malik's own work. As ever, that's exactly they way it should be, of course, & it's to be hoped that signing to Vendetta allows Malik to find the exposure & acclaim his music richly deserves so check this out now.
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