Droidglow - Brutal Hours

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Droidglow’s “Brutal Hours" simmers with dark violence, seething power and immense sounds, occasionally broken by gentle emotion and remembrance. The music can crush with unbelievable muscle and invoke the most nightmarish beings, but it can also touch softly and carry wistful feelings. The balance of elements is well-considered, The melodies are composed with thought and Droidglow understands how to create a sonic painting. When the contributions of the guest artists are factored in, this work delivers both brutality and musical depth.

There's no doubt that colossal, devastating sound sits at the heart of “Brutal Hours." The music is thunderous and laden with fear as it batters and shreds. The percussion is unrelenting and the guitars tear through the music with ravening force. As the elements interlock, they create gargantuan strength and unstoppable fury. However, there are also more subtle and tender moments to balance the ferocity.

All of the themes composed by Droidglow for “Brutal Hours" are written with care and skill to summon maelstroms of emotion and peril that sweep across the different tracks. Each theme reflects varying moods and conveys the menace that lurks within. The way in which he also balances the guitars and synthesizers adds to the weight and sense of portent that spill from the music.

Imagery is invoked by layering synthesizer sounds and making them all combined seamlessly to form a picture of deadly threat and increasing horror. Droidglow has a knack for drawing me into his music and filling me with the menace and sinister strength that defines each part of the album. This is a journey into the blackness of the void and it doesn't disappoint in that regard.

Finally I have to call to attention all of the artists with whom Droidglow collaborated on this album. Each of them is talented in their own right hand when they bring their forces together on this recording, the result is explosive and extremely entertaining.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Legacy of Terror” explodes into life with unrelenting darkness and a sense of impending doom before the leaping foundation rockets fiercely as the notes above cry out with barely restrained fear.

A high synth spills blinding light that balances the slashing underlayer before a melody captures majesty and risk in equal measure as the guitar cuts cleanly. The guitar melody is speedy and fierce, ripping at the music with hungry fangs while the low end accelerates.

A note pattern spins with disturbing feelings, like something waiting to strike in the shadows, while the bass and percussion hits hard. The synth gleams with a deadly beauty as it carries the melody with surprising softness and delicately fades as breezy notes drift.

I enjoy the contradictory sensations that fill me as the heavy underlayer punches me in the gut and almost reverent notes rise. The guitar howls like a spirit drifting through the murk before the track ends.

A churning pipe organ sets the stage for “Hellbound” as clouds of gloom flow and the hammering rhythm creates a fierce foundation for the type organ as the melody howls and the vocals raise the drama level. Shaun Phillips’ voice storms and Philip Smith’s guitar rips at the music while the underpinnings smash.

The guitar raises a feeling of shattering threat, sliding out in a fearsome line as the percussion is given emphasis by the pipe organ's gothic force. I am captured by Shaun Phillips’ driven performance while the massive beat gives no quarter. Philip Smith’s guitar solo tumbles with feral freedom while the background surges with the pipe organ and silence falls.

Asking for a demonic power to enslave him, the tale’s teller says, “destiny, die for me, swimming in my grave.” He speaks of there being pride to destroy and souls to possess as he is "dancing in the fire."

Once more our narrator implores the evil force to "devour me, empower me, throw me on the pyre." He adds that it's hell for them and they're hellbound. He's ready to make a sacrifice and pay the cost as evil advances quickly.

In conclusion, the storyteller says, "angel eyes, satanize, bow before the master. "

“Darknet” bubbles like magma while the drums create solidity and great weight as a voice chants and robotic lines as industrial sounds buzz and howl. The underlayer tumbles and churns formidably as the main theme cries out and the ragged low end thunders with perilous heft.

The theme is muscular and full of brilliant energy as it unfurls. The track drifts into a segment in which a synth fulminates and the background vibrates with orchestral sensations, gliding with more elegance than the mechanical feeling underlying it.

Synth and drums interlock into an accelerative, headlong charge before the smashing percussion breaks in along with the dire bassline and a rising sound twists, evoking worried feelings before leaping to a conclusion on robotized tones.

A tide of smoothly interlocking tones slides above a solidly pulsating rhythm starts “Together We Will Survive” while the lead singer’s magnetic vocals capture a struggle for positive forward progress, communicating complex emotion.

The main theme gleams on a synth awash in sunset shades while the words slip in a resonant line, poetic and gentle, as the underpinnings push on. Tones echo with peaceful radiance while the foundation undulates and the lead singer's sincere performance touches me. Patterned brilliance spills before Droidglow’s guitar solo embodies the mingled pain and hope that defines the song.

As one event follows another, the main character is still doing work on himself. He says, "time just takes its toll when I feel like I've lost control." He's looking to find anything that will take weight off his mind and allow him to see the light again. He wonders if the song’s subject can save him again.

Picking up where he left off, our narrator says, "I'm thinking I can still hold on, tonight will be the night, together we will survive." He knows that if they stay together they'll make it. He concludes, "I'm still catching up on life and I keep losing track of time, it's passing me by, in the blink of an eye we're gone."

Tones that crush together with unsettled roughness lock into “Danse Macabre” which shudders in anticipation before computerized, swirling arpeggios flicker like tiny lights swallowed by vast twilight. Widely spinning arpeggios joined echoing, choral voices as a militaristic snare drum marches and angular sounds tug at the edges of the music.

A guitar cries and the twinkling arpeggios are supported by an orchestral string section that creates an image of approaching eldritch beings. Fragile notes increase the impressions of unfathomable wickedness that draws near. A wider arpeggiation is joined by the ancient choir as the track crescendos into destructive motion and the orchestra intertwines.

Slowly descending tones induce dread while the bending notes shift and the delicate tones shimmer above the eerie foundation. Despair slides through while the percussion fades briefly. patterning drums March and the track ends with horrible menace.

“Find An Excuse” has unhallowed beginnings with an undead choir echoing through caverns before the gargantuan drum beat is lacerated by sobbing notes as distorted vocals bend into open space. Jagged slivers of harsh sound slash while the slamming underlayer pushes on with ferocious insistence.

A synth with a floating quality creates unsettling, ghostly sounds that drift while the seething underpinnings and slamming metallic noises accelerate to a towering rhythm. Impressions of strength beyond this world roar while the heavy beats crash. Unadulterated panic grasps me as the industrial sounds clatter and a choir calls out in haunting tones.

Mechanical, unbelievably weighty tones move with the chanted vocals as the bubbling sounds are joined by a shattering beat as spectral breaths exhale. Madly churning percussion collides as the hi-hat adds a ringing counterpoint and pipe-like sounds float with diaphanous sensations before the track ends.

The tsunami of percussion and a banshee cry of guitar kicks off “Sacred Transgressions” As a violent storm rages in the foundation while the entire track exudes horrifying muscle and arpeggios tremble nervously. The guitar has a dominating, ghastly energy to it that is propelled by towering rhythms, growling with colossal impressions of forceful hunger.

Higher notes swirl with a hint of melancholy while the guitar cuts like a razor sharp blade, driving into me violently as the underpinnings smash with crushing horror as turning sounds tumble one over the other and the track roars to an end with a guitar solo full of dreadful life.

“Neon Nights” slips with lithe sounds that expand into a huge soundscape with a melody driven by mournful notes and tinges of glistening hope before Sarah Orloff's voice fills the soundstage with blazing emotion, something between pain and potential that remains. Both singers bring their voices together in harmony that deepens the sensitivity and earnestness within the lyrics.

Underneath, the rhythm pounds with giant power and the vocals float, Sarah Orloff propelling all of the feeling directly into my veins before the twirling arpeggios raise the energy level. Sarah Orloff and Rafael Jannotti's voices complement one another with depth and expressive nuance before the heavy underpinnings press forward. The main theme is propelled by a guitar that captures unadulterated, intense emotion before the song stops.

Wanting to keep the dream alive, the protagonist says, "let's do it one more time, the lightning in our eyes won't dissipate." She doesn't want to be woken up because she's like a cloud "floating in an idealistic place." She wants to live a moment in the light as she’s "holding on to magic nights."

Despite the grid being down, our narrator says they shouldn't fade away but again live for a moment in the light, keeping hold of neon nights. She speaks of not surrendering without a fight as she sees "hearts on fire" and feels the desire. She adds, "the thunder in my mind won't go away" as she speaks about flying in an artificial space.

Like a shower of stars, pinpoints of synth descend above an electronically snapping low end as “Profane Covenant” rises with increasing sensations of dread and anticipation of ghoulish horrors erupting out of the night.

The foundation breaks into a thousand lacerating shards as elevated, brilliant tones capture sheer anxiety, filling me with foreboding. The beat is carried on massively explosive hollow drums as a minor-key figure wriggles and the track accelerates even more wildly. As the fragments of drums and shredding bass collapse and vibrate, the track works its way to a conclusion.

Conclusion

Terror, havoc and massive walls of sound define “Brutal Hours" but it's more than just that. There are layers of emotion and expression that sit within the heaviness and moments that are gentle and full of contemplation. The end result is music that I fall into and travel with from beginning to end.

Jason Youth - Shadow Valley

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Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Jason Youth’s “Shadow Valley” unfolds in a cinematic vision of creeping fear, using subtly interwoven synth and atmospheric composition to draw the listener into a story full of shadows and sinister things waiting to come out of the darkness and strike.

Rather than relying on over-the-top sounds, Jason Youth has chosen a more nuanced palette that is nonetheless terrifying. The very restrained nature of the soundscape enhances the emotional weight of this music and carries me further into it with each track.

Intelligently chosen synths result in “Shadow Valley” having a very clear mood and set of images that create continuity and add to the expanding feelings of dread that spread outward. Jason Youth takes each of his sounds and combines them to superb effect in creating an atmosphere of foreboding and horror.

Storytelling is another aspect of “Shadow Valley” which I find enjoyable. Without using lyrics, the artist manages to convey the action that occurs and summons a sense of filmmaking with the approach it takes. I enjoy the sensations that are created by his way of writing music and find myself immersed more deeply in the tale as it unfolds.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Shadow Valley” creates breathless anticipation and a rising feeling of creeping evil as the arpeggios revolving slow motion, the background twisting with disturbing sensations as the hypnotic motion draws me in and the slowly trembling sounds fill the track with foreboding and a feeling of hanging on a precipice before the shadowing notes in the distance vibrate and fade.

Like a haunted calliope, breathy notes shiver to bring “Circus” to life as children laugh in a distinctly unsettling way and the calliope evokes the approach of awful things as a sinister laugh chuckles and the elevated notes send goosebumps running up and down my spine. Breezy sounds sigh and the compulsion to look behind me becomes almost irresistible. Uncomfortable tones wriggle with lurking horror as chiming notes add a touch of creepy feeling before silence falls.

“The Clown" erupts with angular synth and the terrifying laughter of a monstrous clown as the beat slams in dominating lines and the dancing notes have a disturbing feeling as wobbling tones descend and a raging beat savages the music.

The dynamism and sharp edges of the theme cut cleanly while the unsettling notes tremble above the heaviness below. Otherworldly sounds shiver and the beat grows lighter before slamming in again, joining the lacerating synth melody as the wicked laughter echoes again and the track ends.

With menacing slowness, synth notes rise and the drum beat adds to the ominous sensation as “The Stalker Part 1” grows with ever intensifying threat. Blinding arpeggios slowly spin, galactic arms extending as the feelings of a threat becoming real grow and grow above the chugging beats.

Despite the radiance of the arpeggios, the light they cast is full of terrifying import, adding to my feelings of fright above the heavy rhythm. The cascading tones have a feverish brilliance, a sense of something awful nearby. Each twirling pattern interlocks with the heaving under layer to form propulsive motion. Distant strings create cinematic, orchestral feelings before the music stops.

“The Stalker Part 2” has an accelerative speed as an elevated synth is joined by a sax like sound that spins out with engaging, but undoubtedly dangerous energy has the low end throbs. The background spills warmer light while the classically-inflected melody is melancholy and gives me a sensation of continually being watched. The rich synth evokes the mood of an instrument that surges with emotion before silence falls.

A hungry howl shivers the bones as “Wereman” churns into life with rapidly pattering beats like the paws of a wolf and a slowly drifting notes pattern as a storm rumbles in the distance. Vague premonitions of hungry eyes and deep growls add to the sense of something approaching in the night with malicious intent. A predatory creeping quality permeates the music as a terrible laugh echoes and pan pipes breathe out while the acceleration of soft feet rushing forward presages a deadly attack.

“Erin's Choice” is pierced by an entangled synth that tumbles in a slowly unfolding, glowing motion as the soft wind barely brushes and reverberant percussion shivers out into open space. An impression of melancholy is tinged by a high note that wobbles and fades while the main theme encapsulates peaceful, mournful emotion and the track breathes with a web of fragility.

Distant drums flutter and far-away, spectral sounds move like shreds of mist across the landscape. Moody contemplation permeates me as the music subtly drifts and night sounds wander before the main melody evokes deliberative decision-making and the chittering noises add an unsettling character.

Behind the other sounds, gauzy tones roam and call to mind something full of sadness and blacker emotion. The intertwining synth vibrates and conjures up a moment of pause after a night full of fear. An air of calm with perhaps a hint of resigned feeling fills the track as the bright sounds cascade. A sense of resolution steals through the track and carries on before it ends.

As the red and orange glow opens “Dawnbreak,” a feeling of release touches the track, letting me relax as I realize the terrible night has ended. The tragedy that has unfolded leaves its mark, but over it all, the sun begins to cast nurturing light and lift the track above the dying darkness before everything grows still.

Conclusion

“Shadow Valley” is a voyage into a night full of awfulness and never-ending danger that ultimately creates a fulfilling soundscape. The way in which Jason Youth approaches this music is interesting and makes me want to learn more about his compositions.

Synth Single Review: “Far From Home” by Mellow Fields

by Karl Magi

Mellow Fields' “Far From Home” exhales from a hushed beginning that trembles like grass in the wind as far away notes drift like a dream, rising from the clouds that build up on the horizon. The main theme is as fragile as dandelion seeds before the pulsing solidity of the foundation gives direction to the music as the open tones echo above a spreading plain.

Freedom emanates from the main melody as it coasts out with simply soothing sounds, making me feel as though I am sailing on the breeze. The underlying solidity balances the gossamer delicacy and sensation of tiny seeds worn upon the wind as I exhale.

This track is a journey across an imagined landscape full of tranquil lakes and broad fields rolling like emerald carpets as the motif, transported on a weightless synthesizer, captures the purity of thought and the simplicity of a day spent escaping the world. The track closes with contemplation and soothing tenderness.

Synth Single Review: "The Freshmaker" by Nightboat

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by Karl Magi

Nightboat’s "The Freshmaker" escapes from the dreary, dark modern age in which we find ourselves with a jumping beat and lively chord changes that fly with encouraging strength. Drums flourish and fluting tones slip out with a relaxing breath while the dynamism below evokes the excitement of a freeway journey.

The main theme evokes wind in the hair driving, top down and stereo blaring, well the resonant notes tumble in exciting motion. The music is my transportation to a magical place that never really existed, but which I somehow remember.

A pumping underlayer supports a carefree melody as it swirls with radiant joy while the foundation evokes a highway rolling under the tires of a sports car. The melody explodes with a sensation of escape and nostalgic happiness before ending.