| Reviewed
by: Darklight
I
was impressed with Colony 5's previous recording Lifeline,
and like this follow-up even more. This Swedish trio really know how
to construct some of the catchiest EBM/synth-pop hybrid music I've heard.
As soon as I heard the first track "Hate" I knew I was going
to be in for a treat with this entire album. The production is crisp
and clear, the electronic programming is sci-fi, the beats are fast
paced, the melodies are hypnotic and the deep accented male vocals sing
with passion.
The songs are driving and energetic perfect for the dance floor. Each
one grabs you right away and holds your attention.
This band definitely knows how to develop extremely upbeat and interesting
future pop tunes. There's not a disappointing track in the bunch. They're
all great and will keep you coming back again and again.
One complaint I had with Lifeline were the
lyrics. Some were laughably bad. Thankfully, the lyrics on this album
are much better. Some still lean a little toward the simple side, but
for the most part they're all well written.
I really don't have any complaints with this CD. If you like club style
EBM/synth-pop music, this album is for you.
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| Reviewed
by: Darklight
Colony 5
is the Swedish EBM/Synth-pop duo of P-O Svensson and Johan Nilsson.
This Lifeline CD is their full-length debut, and is quite impressive.
The album starts off with a countdown which is appropriate because once
this CD launches it doesn’t slow down during its entire playing course.
Basically, the songs offered here could be considered future pop. They’re
crisp, clean, upbeat and energetic offering frantic electronic programming,
thumping bass beats, soothing melodies and clear untreated accented
male vocals that sing with melody. The music isn’t quite EBM and not
quite synth-pop, but a combination of the two. It contains elements
of both genres and works extremely well.
What I like about this release is that everything is quite catchy and
exciting. It’s obvious that most of the tracks were designed for the
dance floor, and that’s fine by me. I like good energetic club music
that makes me want to move. But the band realizes that you need to take
a break from the dance floor as well, so they included some nice dark
and relaxed songs as well to keep things varied and interesting.
The only complaint that I really have with this CD is that some of the
lyrics aren’t as well written as I would have liked. I personally like
lyrics that contain a bit of mystery to them and make me need to listen
to them several times to start getting their meaning. But a lot of the
lyrics here are quite straight forward leaving nothing to the imagination.
While a lot of the lyrics are well written, there are some that are
a bit laughable. Listen to the songs "Crackhead" and "Stay
Young" and you’ll know exactly what I mean. I really hope that
whoever writes the lyrics for this band makes them less blunt and adds
a little more mystery to them in the future. Because the lyrics really
are the only thing holding down this band at this time.
One of the more positive aspects of this CD is that you get a lot of
songs on it. Fifteen to be exact. There are twelve main songs and three
bonus tracks. Two of the bonus tracks are songs not found previously
on the CD, while one is a remix of a previous song. It’s nice to finally
get some bonus tracks on a CD that aren’t all remixes for a change.
While Colony 5 isn’t really doing anything new or different
on this CD, they do deliver a lot of great tracks for your listening
enjoyment if you like this sort of music. Everything is upbeat and will
keep you entertained. So you need not worry about being bored. A lot
of the songs do sound somewhat similar to each other, but this isn’t
too big of an issue as it prevents any snags in the flow. This is just
a solid and consistent recording from start to finish. Once the first
song plays you’ll be hooked and want to listen to everything here.
If you like bands such as Covenant, Culture
Kultur, Fictional, Icon Of Coil,
Lights Of Euphoria, Neuroticfish,
Project-X, Seabound and VNV
Nation, you will most likely enjoy Colony 5 as
well.
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