Statiqbloom – Beneath The Whelm (Album – Metropolis)
Genre/Influences: Industrial, Dark-Electro.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: One year after the astonishing “Asphyxia”-album the Brooklyn, NY (USA) based Statiqbloom strikes back with their fifth opus to date. It’s the second one released on Metropolis.
Content: The band claims to compose Post-Industrial music and that’s a definition, which totally matches with the global sound approach of this work. Several songs remind me of the obscure and tormented style of early Skinny Puppy, which has been transposed into a very own sonic mould. The atmosphere hanging over the tracks remains the main characteristic of the band, appearing a kind of trademark! But you’ll also notice harder, danceable cuts while other passages reveal some minimalism. The spooky production of the vocals creates a symbiosis with the sound. Notice by the way that the song “The second Coming” is featuring Metal singer Attila Csihar.
+ + + : “Beneath The Whelm” moves on there where “Asphyxia” stopped. It remains an album supported by dense and overwhelming Ambient atmospheres, but they this time moved a step further creating a sonic bridge with early Dark-Electro/Industrial music reminding the Skinny Puppy years from the late 80s. There’s an intelligent and sophisticated song writing resulting in multiple attention grabbers. The song together with Attila Csihar is a magic piece of Dark-Electro/Industrial music.
– – – : I’m just missing a few more club-orientated tracks at this album.
Conclusion: Statiqbloom is a very particular project; clearly related to other bands and specific genres although featuring a very personal sound.
Best songs: “The Second Coming”, “Restless”, “Ghost Deep”, “Black Lava”, “Alcestis”.
Rate: (8).
Artist: www.facebook.com/statiqbloom
Label: www.metropolis-records.com / www.facebook.com/MetropolisRecords
About Statiqbloom
Statiqbloom is the project of Fade Kainer, formerly of Batillus, Tombs and Jarboe, who founded it as a solo venture in 2013. Denman C. Anderson joined in 2016. Based in Brooklyn, NY, the band released “Asphyxia” in 2019, its fourth full-length and first for Metropolis Records. “Beneath The Whelm” follows one year later as the band’s fifth album and second for the label.
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