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While many of you will know Lee Lauer as half of the hard EBM duo Aslan Faction, this project, which takes its inspiration from Shakespeare's Hamlet & which again sees him teaming up with vocalist Karen King, is a very different kettle of fish, opting for a more imaginative, atmospheric form of industrial electronica (if you can imagine that). KO has the potential to do great things but is, sadly, somewhat hamstrung by the less than perfect recording quality. In fairness, the sound on this second album is an improvement on their debut Last Vision which sounded pretty dire in places & it actually works in their favour at times by adding a more atmospheric edge to tracks such as "The Wound" & the excellent "No One But Me" whilst also allowing King's voice to take on an almost intimate clarity at the beginning of "Dolls", which soon builds into a darkly atmospheric offering. Indeed Karen proves herself a most versatile vocalist throughout, sounding alternately mysterious, assertive & plaintive with nods towards Bjork's more atmsopheric moments & a smattering of De Coy's (of Fading Colours) grandeur while Lauer's occasional vocal interjections add yet more possibilities. "Picking Up Stones" quickly proves to be the album's highlight, mainly due to the contrast between the beautiful piano opening that is embellished by the sound of waves & which is then contrasted by a harder, grittier main section where the leads have a definate taste of the middle east about them & is a good example of what the duo are really capable of. That's not to say all is rosey in the garden, though as when listened to in full it does start to get a bit samey & the less than polished feel just gets irritating after a while although, when taken in small doses, "Tautology" & the minimalist trip-hop of "Cut" still have something to offer. Overall, though, they don't build upon the imaginative opening third of the album to deliver something which keeps you guessing until the very end but it's not without plenty of good points (putting 3 videos on the end is no bad thing, either!) so if they can polish up their sound a bit while expanding on their obvious musical strengths in future then we'll really have something to get excited about. |
