EDF
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The first thing that came to mind when I started playing this album is how this could be what my computer must sound like when it starts up. I don’t mean the sounds that us humans hear when the said machinery rolls into action but how it must sound to the computer itself when it is brought to life. With a growling guitar, a Pink Floyd type vocal and a saw type noise mixed in for...no hang on a minute, that’s the workmen in my kitchen using a saw, but somehow it sounds just right. This is probably a good example of how sparse, loose and ambient this whole album is. CINDEREL is a track with two haves, a three-minute build up followed by a guitar solo of the ambient industrial kind. Predictably, the track ends as it began, a mix of noises over a lonely sounding piano. The programmed drum beat on LACUNA sounds like it came from the Matrix universe and is let down by dull vocal effects and uninteresting chords. One of the best tracks is actually the shortest track on the album. The instrumental LACONIC is just over a minute long and is the best thing I have heard on this album. ANHYDROUS continues with THE MATRIX effect and this being a song with two halves, you wonder where the group is taking you times. It is scary to think it but imagine BLADE RUNNER meets KING CRIMSON and you will have a fair idea what this album is like.
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John Wilkström
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Interesting. It was my first thought. Nice. That was my second thought. This
is new fresh music. Soft is a good description. I've got a CD with classical
music in my collection with so called night music. I think this is the electronical version of that CD.
The people behind Extropy are Jeremiah Savage and Dave Andrus from Dreamscape Unlimited. With manipulated beats, pianos and guitars, both acoustic and electrical they create a soft electro rock a la softer school with smooth songs and a little bit melancholic sound.
I like the first track "Inquisitor" best but I also like songs like "Lacuna" and the untitled track 7. I think they both are worth a further presentation. Track 7 is a song that tells something, but I think it's up to the listener to give the tale a meaning.
"Lacuna" feels progressive; the music evolves all the time. The music is based upon the piano that plays the real melody; the other instruments are just completing the sound with color and depth. "Laconic" is the song that follows after "Lacuna" and is the second part of a piece of music. It ends the "Lacuna" song.
This is a good record but I think there are some weaknesses, like the song "Anastasis" that feels lifeless. although I don't think that matters because the rest is good. The layout is a nice 3D effect of which you can find more on the bands homepage that is a bit hard to understand. Same thing with the small amount of information you find on the CD.
But I got a positive impression of the whole and I still think that this is good night music. Nice and calm.
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connexion bizarre
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one of the best albums I heard this year
Extropy is the new project of Jeremiah Savage and Dave Andrus of Dreamscape Unlimited and a bit of a departure from industrial sounds into other musical territories.
"Lethe", Extropy's debut album, can be considered as a crossing between Electro-Industrial ballads and Ambient music with a touch of Romanticism. It is a very emotional album, atmospheric and almost oniric. With a feeling of calm and intense melancholy permeating all the tracks, the reason for the album's name, "Lethe" becomes readily apparent and most adequate.
Musically, this is a very interesting album and hard to describe. A musical hybrid of programmed percussion and fractured beats which are merged with guitars, acoustic and electric, and further entwined with simple piano compositions and sample work to achieve a feeling of crystalline melancholy. The quality of the sound is very good and it seems that no effort was spared in production work.
Lyrically, "Lethe" is definitely above average as well. It's not easy to write lyrics for melancholic music without them sounding corny, pretentious or both. Extropy's lyrics, however, seem mature and well-thought out, their content being the musical melancholy of the songs being perfectly translated into verbal form. The voice work is also very good: simple and without exaggerated effects, at times whispered or spoken, at times sung but always seamlessly incorporated into the music adding even more emotional depth to it.
Individually, each track stands perfectly on its own but. Together, they flow like a river, with each track seemingly the natural evolution of the previous, even with clear separations, so that the whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts. Therefore, it's very difficult to pick individual tracks that stand out. However, tracks like "Radiomorphology", ">" and "Anastasis" did capture my attention.
"Lethe" has been playing a lot in my CD player ever since I got it, it's one of those albums that just won't let go, sticking to the player like glue. In a way, it's almost addictive. My only complaint regarding it is that it is too short but it's definitely one of the best albums I heard this year and I can't wait to hear what will be the evolution of Extropy.
-- T.D. [9/10]
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Static Signals
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a poetic vision of mournful beauty . . .
Fearless soundscapes of digitally-manipulated guitar, keyboard and vocal performances shaped into forlorn harmonies and framented gothic-industrial ballads, Extropy's Lethe leaves behind traditional song structures and forges it's own distinct voice, a poetic vision of mournful beauty.
Fragmented and exacting industrial beat patterns surround sparse, filtered vocals crooning introspective melodies. Digital synthetics and guitar noises spin and pan across the stereo field in meticulous flight plans, building into slow, deliberate patterns and songs.
In the organic way the pieces are gradually constructed, Lethe achieves a stream-of-consciousness effect which reminds me of later Skinny Puppy albums. But on top of that Extropy's music is infinitely more melodic and emotional; Lethe eminates a profound, somber ambience that holds all the pieces together.
Lethe is full of moments that leave you in utter awe, at the beauty of the layered and carefully manipulated sound, at the depth of the feeling that is infused into the music. In Lethe, Extropy has found a new, mysterious area of our consciousness to shade with their shifting, dim, multi-faceted moods.
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Jason
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Innovative electro with inventive guitar work
If you dont like this album then you might be tone deaf.
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EvilSponge
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not exactly like anything I have heard before
Extropy are a band from ... well i can't really tell where they are from. They are a two-member act. I think. The wording on the CD is very vague. "Original waveform manipulation (digital) archived by D. Andrus and J. Savage," it reads. I guess that means they made the music on a computer. But the sleeve also says that "wavedata perspectives analyzed and compiled by A. Andrus". Does that mean that A. Andrus was the recording engineer while D. Andrus worked the computers? Who can tell? ... well, i guess none of that matters, right? Let the music speak for itself. Well, it does speak for itself, and it does so quite well.You see, the music on Lethe is not exactly like anything i have heard before. I guess i would classify Extropy as an electronic goth act. Maybe that means an electronic act with gothy vocals, or a goth band with computer mangled beats. Either one works. Add into the mix some classic rock sounding guitarwork (long, high solos interspersed throughout), and you have a weird goth/IDM/rock fusion that is, well, not really like anything i have heard before. And the thing is, it works. There are nine pieces on the disc, although some of them are short instrumental interludes. The first track exists in three movements, each named on the back of the CD sleeve. It starts with Intercept, which is a nice spacey keyboard drone that almost sounds like it came off of a Robert Rich album. Then the guitarwork, drums, and subdued, mopey voice kick in, and Inquisitor becomes a nice mid-80's style gothic dance tune. Think Sisters of Mercy, although nowhere near as overblown or pretentious. Then it fades out with Excavation, a nice subtle piano outro. Cinderel starts with a really nice electronic interlude that reminds me a lot of the work of Project Skyward. It is spacey and very modern sounding, but still kind of catchy. Very nicely done. The song swells up with guitar and some half-heard vocals. The basswork is really nice, all dark and throbbing, like something from The Cure. In fact, this song is pretty durned cool. A strange mix of sounds, but cool. It fades out with a glitched beat and another nice piano outro. It fades right into Lacuna, in which the glitchy beat and the piano are joined with guitar that echoes heavily like something off of The Cure's Disintegration album. Eventually the echo calms down to a more strumming, almost acoustic, style of playing, and the beat swells up to become almost ravey. The throbbing beat disintegrates into noisy glitch popping behind a lovely piano bit. The song then fades imperceptibly into Laconic in which the glitchy beat backs up some guitarwork consisting of heavily echoed trebly arpeggios that remind me of that Ova Looven album. Again, a strange mix of sounds, but they really work well together. The interlude Radiomorphology is next. It is a lovely 2 minutes of acoustic guitar and dubby drumming. It fades into Anhydrous, which is a dramatic, noisy tune with plenty of guitar and some strong vocals. It gets really noisy by the end, then abruptly stops. In the silence after Anhydrous a faint piano echoes, eventually joined by quiet acoustic guitar in a track simply titled > (yes, the title of this track is a "greater than" symbol). This is a very lovely interlude. Anastasis then comes in with a nicely computer mangled beat and some very lovely acoustic guitarwork. The keyboard atmospherics that back up the beat and the guitar are rather lovely too. Again, it's a strange mix: part Aphex Twin, part Paul Simon, and part Steve Roach. Finally we have the album's closer and title track, Lethe. The intro part of this song really reminds me of Aphex Twin's classic tune On, with a stuttering beat and a long tinkling keyboard part. Eventually the guitar and the vocals are back, and the song rocks its way towards the end of the album. Really, this is a strange mix of sounds... I received the promo six months ago, and have balked at writing a review. Every time i write about it, i think i fail to do it justice. Yes, it does involve a very disparate set of sounds, but they really work well together... It's an interesting album, and i think that it says something very favorable about the band that they are able to make it work as well as it does. So, kudos to them.
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Smother.Net
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Ominous structures emerge from IDM-flavored sonic disarrays. “Lethe” has a motive and an alibi for creating such bizarre noisescapes that punctuate the differences between modern art rock and the electronica scenes. Take for example five minutes into the album opener “Inquisitor” where it just stops for silence and then pummels slowly backwards with a beautifully recorded and echoed piano piece. It’s as if Radiohead decided to give their album to Autechre to remix and then let The Edge play on top of it (see “Cinderel” massive guitar parts). I like this album because just when you feel like you have the sound nailed down it veers off into another direction entirely but without sounding like a disjointed misadventure that was ill-advised from the get-go. This album takes guts and Extropy aren’t gutless.
- J-Sin
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GunHed - Wetworksezine.com
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one of the best albums I've heard in months
Extropy is the project of Jeremiah Savage and Dave Andrus. On "Lethe" the duo manipulate many different sounds, from electric and acoustic guitars, fractured beat patterns, sparse atmospheric vocals, emotional ambient synths and melodic clicks'n'cuts that make me think of the cold calculated moments of Haujobb/Architect or the emotional anguish of Nine Inch Nails.
Tracks like "Cinderel" (which remind me a lot of the new Bitcrush release, actually) and "Lacuna" left me in awe. "Anhydrous" floats through many different shades, from a matrix-like modem crash to the slight vocoder that is placed on the voice. The following track ">" mysteriously tugs at the heartstrings, as beautiful processed piano infuses with somber vocals and acoustic guitars. ">" is the type of song that gives you goose bumps the first time you listen to it.
This is easily one of the best albums I've heard in months. Why this band hasn't gained more recognition is beyond me. I definitely recommend "Lethe" to fans of Ambient Electronica. It's nice to see an artist that can mix electronic music with elements outside of the genre
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Connexion Bizarre
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A remarkable album, almost oniric in nature.
"Lethe", Extropy's debut album, can be considered as a crossing between Electro-Industrial ballads and Ambient music with a touch of Romanticism. It is a very emotional album, atmospheric and almost oniric. With a feeling of calm and intense melancholy permeating all the tracks, the reason for the album's name, "Lethe" becomes readily apparent and most adequate.
Musically, this is a very interesting album and hard to describe. A musical hybrid of programmed percussion and fractured beats which are merged with guitars, acoustic and electric, and further entwined with simple piano compositions and sample work to achieve a feeling of crystalline melancholy. The quality of the sound is very good and it seems that no effort was spared in production work.
Lyrically, "Lethe" is definitely above average as well. It's not easy to write lyrics for melancholic music without them sounding corny, pretentious or both. Extropy's lyrics, however, seem mature and well-thought out, their content being the musical melancholy of the songs being perfectly translated into verbal form. The voice work is also very good: simple and without exaggerated effects, at times whispered or spoken, at times sung but always seamlessly incorporated into the music adding even more emotional depth to it.
Individually, each track stands perfectly on its own but. Together, they flow like a river, with each track seemingly the natural evolution of the previous, even with clear separations, so that the whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts. Therefore, it's very difficult to pick individual tracks that stand out. However, tracks like "Radiomorphology", ">" and "Anastasis" did capture my attention.
"Lethe" has been playing a lot in my CD player ever since I got it, it's one of those albums that just won't let go, sticking to the player like glue. In a way, it's almost addictive. My only complaint regarding it is that it is too short but it's definitely one of the best albums I heard this year and I can't wait to hear what will be the evolution of Extropy.
-- M. [9/10]
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Andrew
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amazing
This CD is just amazing. I'm a huge fan of the duo's previous CDs (which were released under the name Dreamscape Unlimited) so i ordered this CD as soon as it was released. Stylistically, this album is a big change from their previous installments, yet equally good, if not better. The album seems to focus more on the electronic aspect of their music and much, much less on the hard rock influences found in 'Ignorance' and 'Lustrate Incarnadine.' It sounds nothing like i had expected it to when i heard it announced quite some time ago, but it more than lives up to the high expectations i had for it. Every track is perfectly listenable and i rarely find myself skipping around looking for the few songs that i actually like. I highly recommend this to everyone. Do yourself a favor and buy this album.
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