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Archived Reviews
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When I mentioned that Inertia were 'going a bit poppy in their old age' on my Cryotank V2 review it turns out that I didn't know the half of it! This is a totally different direction for the band to the extent that, at times, you'd be pushed to tell who it was. Whilst the band have flirted with more accessable styles in the past (on tracks such as 'Fly' & 'Shakalaka Baby') they've really gone to town here, bringing the guitars much more to the fore, thus allowing new member, ex-The Modern guitarist Bob Malkowski & guests Phill Good & Kneill Brown (who provides the jaunty rock 'n' roll/Depeche Mode crossbreed riffs on the infectious opener 'The Preacher') to show what they're made of & doing away with the band's trademark EBM sound which is only resurrected on the penultimate track 'Repent' (with some surprisingly harsh lyrics, actually!). This new approach does allow the band to spread their creative wings more than ever before & while this should have much wider appeal than anything they've done previously there's no way this could ever be termed a 'sell out'; it's simply that they wanted to bring in a wider range of influences ranging from the powerfully anthemic electro rock of the superb 'Higher' & the even more infectiously anthemic highlight track that is 'Follow Me' through the emo rock of 'Lost', where Reza Udhin's emotive voice shows his vocal prowess in no uncertain terms & onto the ultra-poppy 'Pressure', where Client E provides the bass work & Alexys' spoken vocals score extra 'cool' points due to her American accent (an English one would have sounded really naff!). I'm not totally convinced her performance on 'Sister's Moment' is quite up to scratch as she seems to be singing out o her comfortable range but the music's exotic qualities more than compensate for this while she later proves her skills both as a vocalist & as a ringmistress on the excellent 'Le Cirque Noir' which she co-wrote with Malkowski & which was inspired by her work with The Circus Of Horrors it really evokes the feel of the traditional big top without including the cliched scary clown which is what most bands would have done! This is a varied & constantly excellent album, just what they needed to do to keep Inertia fresh & exciting & I'm sure that this new approach will bring new fans into the fold without alienating their long termers. Reza & Alexys themselves said they're proud of this album & they have every right to be! |
