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Written
by Mike Yoder, posted by blog admin
Industrial
noisemakers Cyborg Asylum create a fine mash-up of light and heavy dynamics on
their first long-player Never Finished,
Only Abandoned. This type of music
literally ruled and commanded the airwaves when I was growing up in the 80s and
its rule last until the late 90s. Cool
and creative groups (like King Loses Crown, Kroh, etc) have cropped up here and
there over time but largely the style has become a forgotten art form
post-2000.
Along
come David Varga and John Tumminia to prove that the genre still has plenty of
bite left in its fangs. Combining
stomping digitized percussion, sampled sound bytes, buzzing electric guitars
and crooning vocals, Cyborg Asylum creates a fresh take on the genre that
sounds as timeless as many of the genres forefathers. Instrumental lead-in “Blitz” screams and
wails like the start of Ministry’s metal era with thudding beats; ominous
backbeats and threatening samples (emergency distress sirens, gunfire,
explosions, etc.). These energetic
salvos seep into the swirling noise synths, crumbling bass, dirty electric
guitars and distorted vocals. Instead of
continuing with the attack element, John’s expressive melodic vocals conjure up
huge melodies and the instrumentation restrains itself to a heavier take on the
pretty new wave pioneered by New Order if mixed with Ministry’s first attempt a
harder crossover, Twitch. The end result is refreshing and unexpected.
The
record continues to bounce from strength to strength like this; from soft to
loud, eerie to angry, experimental to traditional… and it works. First single “My Metallic Dream” utilizes
digital loops, delay and echo as guitar riffs slither in and out of danceable
club trance and fuzz-blasted alternative rock.
Stellar vocal harmonies get stuck in your head quickly and magical vocal
melodies avoid sugarcoated sweetness, opting for great singing that stays
floaty and bewitching even when the music pounds with gusto during the
chorus. “War Machine” kicks off with an
ambient wall of layered electronica before going full-bore into a rumbling
industrial/metal war march that reaches an incendiary electric guitar
finale. The bleak, drippy synths and
soaring vocals of “Weightless” makes for an excellent album centerpiece that
slowly creeps and crawls to a caterwauling finale (Tumminia’s powerful vocal
range is a delight throughout).
“Angle
of Incidence” shoots for a grand vibe sampling viola, violins and cello;
sounding akin to a Disney track from Hell.
Dirty guitar riffs and freaky bass dirges provide the counterpoints to
the delectable melodies and despite being an instrumental interlude; it’s one
of the record’s most fascinating pieces.
The booming, bombastic duo of “Steampunk Highway” and “Fragments as
Illusion” are two of the album’s most techno-inflected compositions with subtle
synth melodies and strong vocal deliveries colliding with subsonic house beats
and driving tempos. They are capable of
igniting a dancefloor and getting fists pumping at a rock n’ roll show. “Ion” works the same musical blueprints minus
vocals to great effect. The Jekyll and
Hyde, soft/loud attack of “Asymmetry” and “Pale Green Dot” mesmerizes with
glorious melodies in its first half but unleashes the rock n’ roll thunder of
electric guitar and ruthless backbeats in the second half; leaving closer
“Paradigm Shift” to cap things off with a style that meshes Depeche Mode with
Stabbing Westward.
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