Cyclobe is made up of Stephen Thrower formerly of coil and Simon Norris of death in June.
What we have here is some extremely strange industrial, electronic experimentalism with the occasional use of traditional
instruments, however when they do use traditional instruments they completely distort them to quite a shocking degree.
This album has sixteen tracks and range from relatively short tracks like
Teen angel no.9 to the longer Red demise. It tends to jump all over the place in terms of continuity and I would say that it doesn't flow very well.
If fact I would go as far to say that the best way to experience this album is to set your CD player to random and just let the bizarre soundscapes and noises wash over you.
In terms of individual tracks that stand out, they all have their own merit, and the vast array of sounds and
ideas on display here insure there will be something for everyone here. After the intro the track Big animal is the first to stand out.
Multi layered noise and ambient loops drift all around while a heavily distorted piano played a slow ominous melody, before more strange soundscapes cut in.
You’re not alone your dreaming has a wonderful feel, with the use of violin and clarinet.
This otherworldly feel is present throughout most of the album and is Cyclobes main attraction to me.
The aforementioned Teen angel no.9 reminds me very much of Teenage lightning from Coils classic Loves Secret domain album.
Again the more structured drum loops are interrupted by more surreal drones and effects.
Track eight Bestial celestial is probably the darkest piece on here.
It’s very creepy with strange talking vocals seeming talking about nothing, and a very odd elastic sounding synth noise prancing about in the right speaker.
There are also some military sounding samples and mechanical sounds. And I think some Arabic instruments being looped and distorted.
It is a very strange track indeed. The blue and the green again uses the sounds of abstract drum loops and percussion combined with horror sounding synth and instrumental noise.
It’s a quite hypnotic effect and combined with the following track Genius loki (A genetics reference) really achieves a level of involvement that some of coils later work lacks.
Genius loki has a quasi cinematic feel as more industrial noises clatter around revealing the orchestral background and finally giving in to full on classical work out in a way that brings to mind again from Loves secret domain the track Chaostrophy.
The final track on the album is probably the most atmospheric but also the most simple.
It builds slowly around slow simple synth chords before being joined by quiet static noises and other subtle effects, eventually another otherworldly melody joins in providing a really quite wonderful atmosphere, like being on top of a tall hill and watching the modern world slowly choke it’s self to death on it’s own filth.
Well that my interpretation anyway. But I think you get the idea that this album is something that is not easy to get into, but if you give it time and attention can transport you to a world of magic and mystery where the normal limits of reality do not apply.
