| Artist |
| Red Cell |
| Title |
| Lead Or Follow |
| Format/Cat |
| CD PROCD017 |
| Label |
| Progress Productions |
| Style |
| EBM |
| Date of review |
| July 2008 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 7/10 |
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This Swedish band's second album sees Jimmy Jonsson, Stefan Aronsson & Per Linnerblad (for it is they) largely eschewing the exciting mix of heavy guitars & electronics that made their 2005 debut Hybrid Society so enjoyable in favour of a more generic style of melodic EBM with some poppier elements. How much of this is down to the line-up changes that have taken place in the intervening period is open to debate (they were a quartet back then) but this more electro-minded approach does give the album a much 'cleaner' sound, in comparison to its predecessor's gritty industrialism, although it's not without a fair amount of oomph, as is proven by the punchy opener 'Shine' which wastes no time in getting into its stride with a memorable chorus helping it make its mark. Many tracks alternate between harsher & more melodic vocal styles although it's a shame that 'Attention' only has the harsher style as a more melodic perfomance would have done a far better job of complimenting the music's uplifting, almost triumphant mood. For the most part, though, it all works well & even though two of the finest tracks, the action-packed 'Broken Smile' & the equally superb 'Movement', are amongst the shortest their impact is still considerable (though this, along with the sub-3 minute EBM blast of 'No Soul Control' undoubtedly contributes towards the disappointing running time of 38 minutes). Still, it's a worthwhile album even so with the full-sound that graces 'Substitute' means that this piece really gets deep into your head (in the best possible way, of course!) while 'Grace' closes the album with another memorable, almost majestic theme ending the album on an appropriately uplifting style. Perhaps some people might take issue with the fact that, in all honesty, there isn't anything radically different or unique on offer here, just a strong selection of fine tracks which, overall, makes this worth a punt.
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