A fantastic album that packs a punch as it shifts from one side of the dark electronic spectrum to the next, Anodyne is a force to be reckoned with.
Decaying beats, bass, and distortion
Exploding right from the start with the techno/electro vortex of “Codebreaker,” Anodyne dives head first into mid/late 90s-era rave extracts where heavy breaks and bass are augmented by moody melodic pulses of light that never fades.
Decay features 9-tracks of bricolage electronics ripped apart from its hardened outer shell. Turbulent beats are scorched and torn to bits on tracks like the contagious “We Are Not Okay,” to the darkwave ambient debris of “Everybody Dies” where in just a couple of minutes Anodyne’s skills are lit with atmospheric synthesizer drifting. Reminiscent of artists like Scorn and The Fear Ratio, Anodyne ventures into the farthest recesses of his machinery to unearth broken electronic bliss as evidenced on “Follow Through Hell” where you might think all has turned to darkness when in fact the result is a mechanical electro smorgasbord with a Tri Repetae-era edginess. One can also possibly hear what sounds like the intro to Boards of Canada’s “Amo Bishop Roden” in this track too, it’s lovely stretched synth chord blending into a percussive cacophony of blissful noise.
Somewhat of a launching point from We Decode The Future (2012) and The Love Album (2015)—both on Acroplane—the aptly-titled Decay does just want it sets out to accomplish. Its decaying beats, bass, and distortion are pushed to the forefront. Tracks like “We Are All We Have” spark with an emotive thrust, blips and bleeps flashing from the inside of a far away magnetar, this piece alone keeps the album grounded and is perhaps the finest of the lot.
As Decay may find itself in abrasive techno layers, it’s really much more than just that. The encrusted melodies and sonic shadows contained here are as explosive as ever before, while “Lockdown 3.2X” could very well be the ventricle to all that Decay has to offer—molten drum’n bass and breaks ricocheting from all sides. A fantastic album that packs a punch as it shifts from one side of the dark electronic spectrum to the next, Anodyne is a force to be reckoned with.
Decay is available on Acroplane. [Bandcamp]
