| Artist |
| Plasmodium |
| Title |
| The Post-Modern Prometheus |
| Format/Cat |
| CD CRR029 |
| Label |
| Caustic Records |
| Style |
| EBM |
| Date of review |
| 6th May 2010 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 7.5/10 |
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This Spanish solo act's first album Paradise Under Fire, released in 2009 was a typical release from a band trying to ape Suicide Commando but failing to emulate the same level of power or dynamics so it's a blast to see them making many great strides forward on this follow-up, sticking less slavishly to the established EBM template & reaping the rewards as a result. That's not to say they've done anything radically new or different but as soon as the surprisingly melodic chorus of the opening 'I Have Killed A Man', which provides an almost future-pop level of accessability against the harsher chorus, kicks in then it becomes apparent that this is an album that at least has the ability to make you sit up & listen. It helps greatly that Sandro Veras' vocals aren't half bad, managing, during the chorus of the punchy 'Post-Modern/Post-Human' & 'A New Beginning' to equal Steve Naghavi in terms of a smooth delivery while further proving their worth during the equally accessible chorus that again contrasts the harsher verses on 'Via Negativa' & again during the muscular 'Unbreakable Will', the chorus of which is so anthemic that any 'future pop' heroes wouldn't be ashamed to put their name to it! It's this mix of the melodic & the harsh that makes it so instantly memorable, although even when proceedings do veer towards the more established 'hellektro' styles, as they do during 'Instinto Homicida' & 'Smashing White Pills', where their Suicide Commando influence is more to the fore, then the results are still impressive while the guitar samples that form the basis of 'High Speed Collision' show that the band are starting to experiment slightly with the palette of sounds available to them & while it's probably too complexly-layered to be a serious dancefloor contender its quality cannot be denied. Elsewhere it's good to see them tapping into the more atmospheric side of dark electro during 'Voices' which eschews any rhythms in favour of a intensely dark melodic musical tapestry, again nothing startlingly out of the ordinary but it's just thoughtful touches like that, along with the other strongpoints mentioned elsewhere, that make this an album worth seeking out.
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