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The Dutch group Angels & Agony have hit the mark with their second full-length release, "Avatar." Their debut album, produced by Ronan Harris of VNV Nation, allowed them to break through the newcomer barrier. "Avatar" proves that the group does not have to resort to the assistance of a well-known scene celebrity to churn out a mind-blowing Electro album. Mastermind Reinier Kahle and his band build a perfectly irresistible mixture of deep lyrics, atmospheric sounds, strong melody, and fat production values. Without flirting with any sort of short-lived trendyness, "Avatar" will take the clubs by storm in addition to becoming a timeless effort that one will still listen to ten years from now. It is not out of the question that this album could easily take Angels & Agony to the top, making them a serious rival for the biggest names in the scene.

I am not really familiar with Angels & Agony. I have only heard one song from them but I liked what I heard. I finally got around to hearing their new album "Avatar". Their music is in the same vein of fellow labelmates Apoptygma Berzerk, Icon of Coil, and VNV Nation. There must be something in Europe's water because they continue to churn out really excellent EBM/futurepop bands like the aforementioned bands. "Avatar" turned out to as good as I was hoping it would be. Lyrically the songs reminds me of VNV Nation and Apoptygma Berzker. Their is a sense of despair and hope. The music is nothing short of excellence. This is futurepop at its finest. All of the songs are chockful of infectious melodies, ideal music for the clubs. If clubs aren't playing Angels & Agony already, they should. "Avatar" is 74 mintues of club-friendly music. Normally there is always a song or more that really stands out in my head like VNV Nation's "Beloved" and Icon of Coil's "Shelter" but here on "Avatar", the songs were equally as catchy as the next song. If you dig futurepop bands such as VNV Nation, Icon of Coil, and Apoptygma Berzerk, Angels & Agony is just as good and deserves to be heard by fans that I just mentioned.

In movies, the dance clubs of the future always seem to be industrial clubs - wild affairs where cyber-vampires have one facial expression: a leer. "Avatar" would be the soundtrack to such a stereotypical scene. This is industrial-by-numbers, filled with the trance-inflected synths of the "futurepop" style currently in vogue. Technically, the production is faultless, as this is on Metropolis. But the songwriting is bland, the melodies are fluffy, and the vocals are monotonous and predictable. With all its edges sanded off, the album becomes frustratingly frictionless over its 74 minute length.