| |
|
|
Archived Reviews
|
I know this is a very odd way to describe an album but this is excellent to listen to from the next room, not because it's poor but because it's then easier to discern the various elements that make up the often dense soundscapes that are the main element of this promising, albeit frustrating debut album from the Israeli duo of Maor Appelbaum & Tal Galfsky. I say frustrating as, while there are so many touches of genius on show here the music never quite achieves its full potential, partly due to a couple of somewhat repetitive tracks, as in the case of the symphonic "Sleepwalkers", which could have been a real epic were it developed further, but mostly due to the unsympathetic recording process that squashes the various elements into one overly dense wall of sound, losing some of the music's nuances & nullifying to an extent the powerful & majestic sound that IWR aim for & more or less achieve although I still can't help thinking that, while this is still a superior debut with many good tracks if the above problems could have been sorted out then we'd have a masterpiece with absolutely stunning tracks on our hands. For all that Maor & Tal are obviously gifted composers & arrangers with an ear for something unexpected which leads me to wonder if their ambition simply hasn't outstripped their technical abilities (in which case an experienced helping hand might have done the trick). There's plenty to suggest that this is the case, not least the expansive sound that adds that extra element to both the opening "Carnivore" & the closing standout track that is "My Ruin (Bed Of Nails)" as well as the action-packed "Victimized", to pick just three examples. Lady X's angelic vox add an extra darkwave element to a few tracks, making for a nice contrast to the music's generally harsh mood. "Pulsar" develops from its initially synthpop-like feel, via some effective bass motifs & harder rhythms, into a far more resonant number while "Calling You" benefits from a superb combination of atmospheric motifs & electronica-style rhythms. There's certainly something unique about this duo although you'd never guess so from the bonus disc which contains the usual array of predictable remixes which might get them more club play but erases everything which makes IWR the very special act that they have the potential to be so this is probably best ignored. I'll certainly look forward to hearing more from IWR as their potential is immense & if they can just refine their skills further on future releases then I'm positive they'll yet produce something very special indeed. |
