Cesium:137 - Rise To Conquer (CD Album – Metropolis)

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: Twenty years after the set up of Cesium 137, Vince Guzzardo and Isaac Glendening have unleashed the seventh full length album of their common project. This new work appears after a hiatus of six years, the previous album being released in 2012.

Content: Cesium:137 always has combined elements of electro-pop and EBM. “Rise To Conquer” definitely sounds more into the electro-pop style. It’s a sweet- and delicate-like pop format carried by hopping rhythms and refined with some piano-like arrangements. The dance approach has been accentuated on a few tracks while other pieces are like the other way round and more into listening- and melancholic pop music. The vocals are rather sweet as well and in a way perfectly matching with the work.

+ + + : Cesium:137 has never really disappeared, but this album however sounds a bit like a comeback. That’s a damned good thing, but I didn’t exactly expect the American duo to strike back in their sweetest format ever. The album features a rather diversified canvas of electro-pop songs. I prefer the more danceable cuts and especially “Consequence” is a real attention grabber. You also will notice the maturity of the production emerging from the well-crafted and refined songs.

– – – : On some songs I’m missing a little bit more passion in the vocals’ production. Sound-wise I’m missing the EBM elements, which were part of this band in the past. As I already said this album is probably the ‘softest’ work they ever accomplished.

Conclusion: “Rise To Conquer” is a sweet and easy-listening piece of electro-pop, but according to me not exactly the album that will go down in history as a Cesium:137 masterpiece.

Best songs: “Consequence”, “Confession”, “Shiver”, “Killing Time”.

Rate: (6½).

Artist: www .cesium 137.com / www .facebook .com /Cesium 137

Label: www .metropolis –records .com / www .facebook .com /MetropolisRecords

Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The donations are safely powered by Paypal.