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Written
by Pamela Bellmore, posted by blog admin
Wasting
no time on a subtle set-up the debut album from New York/United Kingdom
gruesome twosome, Cyborg Asylum screams to life with the sound of a city
becoming a police state; air sirens, machinegun fire, harrowing screams and
other freakish samples. The name of the
track of “Blitz” and it does exactly that; blitz the listener with squealing
synths, broken break beats and digital madness.
It’s an even bigger surprise whenever the second track “Synergy”
actually turns into an out and out song with squelchy keyboards splattered
across a canvas of mid-paced programmed bump n’ grinds, strongly sung vocal and
a literal net of distortion draped over every instrument. Musically, it reminds me of some of the more
graceful tracks on Nine Inch Nails’ The
Fragile and sounds all the better for it.
With numerous synth melodies unfolding at once, there are a lot of
intricacies to attract the ears, giving the music a psychedelic touch not found
in a lot modern of industrial/electronica.
The
album itself Never Finished, Only Abandoned has the trappings of a concept
album with numerous segues and interludes breaking up this 12-track
accomplishment yet also connecting each track to the one that precedes it. This is an album that is best listened to
from front to back cover without interruption.
Loss of love, emotion, reality and humanity in general seems to be an
overarching theme. “My Metallic Dream”
grooves and glides over craggy, riff-driven undercurrents and lurching bass
lines that are offset by trembling and nearly falsetto-kissed vocals; all the
while the keyboard leads graft crystalline melodies upon this industrial
mutation. “War Machine” pushes, slams
and thrashes with confrontational drum patterns and Psalm 69 burst fire guitar riffs that definitely aim and hit the target
on the metal end of the spectrum.
Borrowing from Fear Factory’s cathartic, power ballad expressionism
(akin to “Resurrection” off of Obsolete),
“Weightless” relishes high wire vocal theatrics, stormy seductive beats,
hypnotic synths and a finish where heavier riffs provide relief and
resolution.
Several
instrumentals offer different levels of respite as the album careens over vast
sonic terrain. These instrumentals
reckon of movie soundtrack scores and it makes sense since instrumentalist
David Varga has composed for both film and television; “Angle of Incidence”
sports a battle scene vibe with warring metal guitar abandon duking it out
against orchestral strings, “Ion” is suspended in Italian slasher movie pathos
and the nervous, rave beat energy of “Pale Green Dot” remind this former gamer
of Straylight’s flashy work on the Unreal soundtrack.
“Steampunk
Highway” rips through dirty, roadhouse rock n’ roll riffs and rhythms brimming
with funky bass licks, acoustic guitar flourishes and walloping percussion; in
a well deep with digital quirks, this rings of an eclectic 70s rock tune. “Fragments as Illusion” takes this stylistic
hard rock left-turn and sprinkles industrial elements on for a picturesque
blending of the two while closer and album standout “Paradigm Shift” drifts
into somber new wave waters until a ragged industrial assault ends the track
with a big bang.
Cyborg
Asylum are a heartfelt nod to the 80s/90s industrial greats with their own
distinct flavors laced into the brew. They’re
accomplished songwriters that possess a keen knack for melody but also have an
ear for the harder stuff too. Anyone
from fans of NIN to Ministry should be able to dig on Never Finished, Only Abandoned.
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