The music of The Synthetic Form belies a humanity in its inception that gives it a timeless, powerful sound.
“Dark music for dark hearts”
Gridlock’s The Synthetic Form (Pendragon, 1997) is a legendary album in the realm of electro-industrial and/or modern industrial. Emerging from the mind of two Mike’s dissatisfied with the wreckage of the metal scene, they came together armed with sampler and synths to create a new work. What’s amazing about this album is that despite its age—as of this writing it’s twenty-seven years old, able to vote and rent a car—the songs show little age nor cliché’s that might anchor it firmly in a particular era or scene. Drawing from numerous inspirations in the genre and outside of it, they managed to create a work that holds up not only against its contemporaries but newer artists as well as the legends and their classics.
“Sickness,” for example, has synths and vocals highly reminiscent of Skinny Puppy yet the arrangement is different, owing to Gridlock’s combined unique sensibility. There’s a greater sense of dynamics in the songs than one usually hears from an industrial act. Using sounds dark and light, loud and quiet to great effect on “Only Living Witness,” for example, showcase a careful attention to the song and its effect on listeners. From the “Frantic” start of the album to its “Frantic (Stark-Raving Mad)” end, the music of The Synthetic Form belies a humanity in its inception that gives it a timeless, powerful sound. The newly formed Viasonde is a welcomed return to synthetic form with more planned reissues in the pipeline.
This release is dedicated to the memory of Mike Wells. 50% of the proceeds from this release will go to The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The Synthetic Form is available on Viasonde. [Bandcamp]
