| Reviewed
by: Darklight
This
is the North American release of Seabound's debut album.
It features new artwork and three bonus tracks. I imported the original
European release of this CD back in 2001 when it first came out, and
mildly enjoyed it. But I didn't like it enough to keep it in my collection,
and eventually gave it to a friend. Well, my tastes have changed somewhat
over the years, and now I'm able to appreciate this album a lot more.
When I first listened to this North American version of the CD I barely
recognized it. The songs sounded familiar, but different from how I
remembered them. I instantly asked myself how could have I ever parted
with such an exceptional recording? The fact is that I just wasn't ready
back in 2001 for the music that's offered on this CD.
While some of my original complaints are still apparent now, they don't
take away from the overall recording as much as I felt they did when
I originally listened to the import. This is partially due to me liking
melodic synth-pop music now. But it also has to do with the three new
bonus tracks that make the album feel more complete.
The songs that I didn't really like before ("Point Break", "Dunnocks",
"Avalost", "Rome On Fire") are still the songs that I like least
on this album. However, I like them more now than I did. "Point
Break" is extremely slow and out of place as track four, but still
a quality melodic synth-pop song. "Dunnocks" is a bit weird
and funky with humorous lyrics, but is good for variety and has a nice
chorus. "Avalost" is the mandatory instrumental, but it's well
done and fits where it comes in. And "Rome On Fire" is a very
commercial sounding electro-pop song, but doesn't sound as out of place
to me now as it did before.
What I'm most surprised by is how infectious some of the other songs
here are. I remember liking them, but not as much as I do now. The songs
"Exorcize", "Hooked" and "Day Of The Century" are
among the best I've ever heard in this genre of music. And the songs
"Smoke", "Travelling", "Torn", "Coward" and "Avalost (Vocal
Version)" are all excellent as well offering their own edge and
style.
The three bonus tracks include: "Day Of The Century", "Hooked (Radical
Mix)" and "Avalost (Vocal Version)". These really help
to make this album more fully realized.
If you like EBM, synth-pop and future pop music, this CD can't be missed.
The songs offer immaculate electronic programming, club beats, beautiful
melodies and great deep clear male singing.
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| Reviewed
by: Darklight
I
liked Seabound's debut No Sleep Demon,
but it contained several out of place tracks and quirky samples that
brought it down in my opinion. Since they offered a bit of an odd vibe
on that recording, I didn't know what to expect from their future music.
So imagine my surprise when I listened to this follow up entitled Beyond
Flatline and discovered it to be a serious and structured
recording with no quirky or odd elements. Seabound
sound almost like a different band now considering how much more focused
and consistent they are here. They actually resmemble De/Vision
a lot on this CD. They even sound a little like Colony 5,
Covenant and Wolfsheim at times.
What this CD delivers is extremely well crafted and polished synth-pop
music. The electronic programming is layered and textured, the melodies
are dramatic and beautiful, and the vocals are deep clear and accented
with superb range and melody.
There's a good amount of variety offered here with a mix of eneregtic
club tracks and laid back mellow tracks. Some songs even offer EBM elements
giving the songs a future pop vibe.
Seabound has definitely matured since their debut,
and I'm exremely impressed with this album. I highly recommend it to
people who enjoy synth-pop music similar to De/Vision,
Colony 5, Covenant
and Wolfsheim.
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| Reviewed
by: Darklight
Seabound is a new european EBM/synth-pop act that are rather
impressive. This is a very strong debut for the duo.
They deliver a lot of variety on this CD, and it all works for the most
part. No two songs here really sound alike thus allowing everything
to stand out. But, as with most CDs that offer this much variety, some
songs are better than others.
The slightly darker, more EBM tracks “Smoke”, “Travelling”,
“Exorcize”, “Torn”, “Hooked” and “Coward” are the best here.
They blend frantic electronic programming, clubfloor beats and dramatic
synthscapes with a mixture of male vocal styles ranging from slightly
aggressive to more melodic. They include catchy rythms and beats with
creative sound layering and thought provoking lyrics.
The tracks “Point Break”, “Dunnocks”, “Avalost” and “Rome
On Fire” bring the album down a bit. “Point Break” is an
extremely slow and boring song that shouldn’t be on this album. “Dunnocks”
is a rather odd song with a funky feel and an annoying spoken word delivery
and trite lyrics. “Avalost” is the mandatory instrumental that
almost every band that makes this style of music has to include on their
albums. While it is indeed a rather good instrumental, it does seem
typical in the end. “Rome On Fire” is an electro-pop song that
is a bit too commercial sounding for me. It’s a good song, but doesn’t
offer the edge of the more EBM type tracks here.
While I do respect the band for including slightly more artistic expressions
throughout this album, there’s no denying the fact that it’s songs like
“Smoke”, “Exorcize”, “Torn” and “Hooked” that show off
the true talents of this act. I hope that they realize this and deliver
more of those type of songs on their next album. For now fans of EBM/synth-pop
hybrid music such as Endanger,
Fictional, Neuroactive,
Neuroticfish, Silent
Promises and VNV Nation
will want this Seabound CD.
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