The First of 2 New EP's from aRCANE aSYLUM

aRCANE aSYLUM is back with the first of two EPs, and this first entry into the set delivers a ferocious blend of hard-hitting electronic, industrial-inspired elements in sound, post-punk, those spacious feels, and brilliant synth work that is accompanied by beats that you either get swallowed up by or add a heavy-handed drive to the tracks themselves.

VIOLENTLY UNITED kicks things off with the harder and sort of edgier blend of industrial, heavy rock intonations and a haunting melody. The song is called "Never Spy On A Spy (In The Cab Mix)", and comes right in with some classic synthesizers already breeding that punchier, edgier soundscape along with this sort of decimated undertone.

As a song unfolds, it gets heavier and heavier with more percussion and a deeper tone in terms of the depth of the soundscape. You get a little bit of glitchiness in there, and it feels sort of rambunctious but still very well put together. It's amazing how this project is able to create something so elegant while portraying disarray.

The next track, "If Anyone Builds It Everyone Dies (Audio Anomaly Mix)", and this one has a much more spacious tone to it. It is very vast because it's got these soothing and ethereal feeling synth pads that flow through the background while the beat still has a bit of edginess to it and reminds you more of electronica than industrial, but also displays a little smoothness as well. This is a slower-paced track, so you have space for it to build.

Soon enough, you have a distorted sin that comes in with an ascending line and starts delivering more melodic hooks. This is a normal attribute of the project's producer.

Being able to incorporate melodic hooks with a heavier electronic soundscape is something that takes practice because you don't want one to overpower the other. This whole thing is very good at balancing the dynamics of texture and tone and still keeping things in your face, yet sort of graceful at the same time. Smooth undertones still flowing in the background, giving the sense of distance or depth, make the track flow.

 "Can You Hear My Silent Cry?", and this one starts with a hollow and deepening feel. It's very cinematic, and its texture and approach give more of those ethereal synth pads, blending two or three to create layers.

The beat comes in a little widespread but is really intricate. It's light and subtle so that you can get swallowed up by the sense of space that it's giving you.

The song explodes into a much heavier and Industrial approach, restless, aggravated, edgy, and pulse-pounding.

Some vocals come into play here, but they're sort of whispering in a strange sense, and the synth and beats are slamming like hammers. This track in particular displays quite a haunting tonality, but one that you end up getting attached to.

"Destroyer of Worlds" is the next one in line, and although this track feels kind of like a breather, it also comes together in a very unique fashion. The reason I say this is because, first off, it's one of the shortest tracks on the record and isn't exactly an interlude, but almost serves like one.

Still displaying the combination of a sort of hollow and open-ended expansive universe, but bringing in some of the emotional heaviness utilizing effects over synths and beats to give things a grungy feel.

The thing about a record like this is that it always does bring together the cinematic elegance, unique arrangement, and emotional push which is really unique to all come together in this way.

Final track on this one is called "One Nine", and this is one of the more orchestrated pieces. There are all kinds of new textures happening on this one, and it breathes even more of a cinematic feel if you ask me. You have this massive beat, again slamming down with slight decimation and endless heaviness. You also get these sonic shrills that are overlaying the song, and this gives that sort of tension that is meant to be coming through.

Beautiful lines and layers of what feels like feedback, creating melodies and notes that overlap each other and give off a certain solid undertone, as the song builds into something even more intense as it plays on, is one of the most entrancing parts of this. 

VIOLENTLY UNITED is an EP that has a lot to say without using too many words. This again is an attribute to the producer of the record and how he pulls together a sort of emotional pain in the music and is not afraid to sort of sculpt sound at Free Will.

This is a deepening EP and again, the first of two. The second being DEEPLY DIVIDED.

The question is, is this record more personal or political?

With the release of DEEPLY DIVIDED, we will be interviewing with the project to find out where all of this is actually coming from, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, dig into this one because a lot is going on.

YOUTUBE

BANDCAMP (FULL EP)

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