| Reviewed
by: Darklight
When Klay Scott announced that he was ending his Circle of Dust
project, I was disappointed. But shortly after ending it, he announced
that he would continue making music as Celldweller.
When I heard the Celldweller EP that came
out in 2000, I was pleased and wanted a full length release ASAP. Well,
the wait turned into three long years. But it was worth it. This eighteen
track self-titled Celldweller release could
very well be album of the year. It’s that good.
Klayton is easily one of the most talented musicians I’ve heard before.
He does everything on this CD. He sings, programs and plays guitar.
And he does it all to perfection. It’s simply amazing that he alone
is responsible for this entire album. There are so many creative and
interesting ideas and elements here that it’s hard to believe that it
all came from only one person.
This is a long CD offering eighteen tracks. Only three are intermission
filler called "cells". They’re basically extremely short electro ambient
moments that lead into the songs. The remaining fifteen songs are each
long playing tracks, and all sound diverse. There’s something for just
about everyone here. Industrial, rock, metal, techno, trance, rap, etc.
It’s all in here, and done extremely well. But for the most part, this
music is industrial rock. Basically, it’s heavy guitar rock/metal music
with a lot of electronic programming and synthesizers. What makes it
so stellar is how Klayton layers everything and the amount of emotion
it all offers. This is very intense and exciting music.
Klayton is a very powerful and passionate singer. He has incredible
range to is voice and sings differently constantly. He can sing melodically
and then shout out rage with ease. He even dabbles a little in rap as
well. It really is amazing how many different ways he can sing. Occasionally,
there are seductive female vocals included in the songs as well that
are a welcomed addition to the music.
I’ve never heard a CD offer so much variety before. Some songs focus
heavily on electronics, some on rock, some are dark somber ballads and
some include all of these styles in one. The great thing about this
recording is that it will appeal to so many people. Those who like industrial
with guitars will like it just as much as those who like heavy rock
and metal music.
My only nitpick with the CD is that I don’t particularly care for the
slow rock ballads offered here. While they’re good for variety, they’re
also the most typical sounding songs on the album. They’re also the
least electronic. But they’re still well developed enough to hold my
interest.
There’s not one track here that I dislike. But, as with most albums,
there are songs that stand out more than others. I especially like "Switchback",
"The Last Firstborn", "Frozen", "Symbiont", "Own Little World", "Unlikely
(Stay With Me)" and "One Good Reason". But, like I said,
everything is good here. There’s not a disappointing track in the bunch.
And with eighteen tracks, that’s quite impressive. Also, all of the
tracks are in a great playing order. The album begins and ends smoothly
with fluidity.
If you’re a fan of industrial, rock, or metal music, this Celldweller
CD can‘t be missed. It’s energetic, vibrant and alive with passion and
emotion. It’s heavy and melodic all in one. This is definitely one of
the better recordings I’ve heard in a while.
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| Reviewed
by: Darklight
Klay
Scott, best known for his previous industrial rock project Circle
of Dust, is now making music as Celldweller. This limited
edition EP gives an excellent sample of what the music of Celldweller
is all about. Basically, it's not a big departure from the material
found on the previous (and final) Circle of Dust release "Disengage".
But this is fine by me as that disc contained some of the best industrial
rock songs I've ever heard before. This EP is no different as it delivers
the goods as well. Klayton is an extremely skilled and talented musician
that sings, plays guitar and programs electronic music to pure perfection.
He blends the right amount of anger, aggression and thrashiness with
harmony and melody to make for heavy rocking songs that are packed with
a lot of changing feelings and emotions. Klayton has a deep powerful
voice with a lot of range. He can shout out anger and sing melodically
just as well giving a lot of diversity to his vocals. He blends guitar
rock with techno to make energetic and driving songs that are catchy.
This EP contains three hard rocking heavy industrial tracks titled "Symbiont",
"Own Little World" and "Fadeaway"; as well as two fast
paced pure electronic instrumentals titled "Beginning of the End"
and "Kemikal". These two instrumentals could be big club hits
with their high bpm rates. This EP is a great taste of what the music
of Celldweller has to offer.
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