Evolution

Disharmony | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: July 28, 2009
• Label: Tympanik Audio
• Copyright: 2009 Tympanik Audio
• Total Length: 1:03:38
• Genres:
• ASIN: B00370JPL0
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous, Mangled, June 16, 2010

By 

flaviolius (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Evolution (Audio CD)

Disharmony is the flagship project of Lord Sauron and Ryby, a pair of electronic musicians who aim to bring attention to the Slovak and Czech dark ambient/electro scenes through their own label, Aliens Production. Luckily for US fans, domestic indie label Tympanik Audio has released Disharmony's most recent album, Evolution, here in the States. We're fortunate they've done so, as Evolution is a fine example of uniquely crafted dark electro-industrial.

Disharmony is not an easy band to wrap one's head around. Their sound could be described as a fusion of early Mentallo & the Fixer and Semantic Spaces-era Delerium, but that doesn't tell the whole story. You can't dance to this album - at least, not easily, as most of the rhythms and beats are slow-paced and erratic - but there's enough power on display to keep you from chilling out with headphones. Evolution demands your attention, defying your attempts to keep the music in the background; you're never quite sure what's going to erupt from the speakers. If you're familiar with the recent work of yelworC, Evolution treads similar evocative ground, relying on carefully constructed mood and melody rather than 4-4 dancefloor beats and energetic sequencing.

The first track, "Revolution", is the strongest example of the album's diversity. It begins with a wonderful synth-wash of almost soothing melody, peppered with sampled snippets of noise and spliced to a gentle meandering bass line. Everything goes silent then, and a choir becomes momentarily audible, followed by more Eno- or Tangerine Dream-styled background keyboards. It's reminiscent of the quieter moments of yelworC's Trinity or Iceolation, but the mood's not nearly as black and threatening.

At around the three-minute mark, a sparkling EBM-inspired sequence appears, giving the song shape and direction. Thirty second later, Disharmony drops a dual sonic sledgehammer: an inexorably slow, heavy beat suddenly crashes into existence, flanked by a barrage of heavily distorted vocals. It's as if the song lulls you to sleep with the graceful prelude, and then slams you awake and into a state of full attention. While the beat and vocals take center stage from then on, all the previous layers reappear throughout the next 5+ minutes. It's impressive how Sauron and Ryby are able to reintroduce these previous elements and make everything work together throughout the track's nine-minute length. It's a remarkable track, and the perfect opener.

The rest of Evolution follows its lead. "Coma" is an instrumental that focuses around a painfully delicate piano melody. "Izometrix" fuses a heavily distorted beat to energetic sequencing to generate driving energy and pace; it's proof Disharmony could make an album of dancefloor fillers if they so desired. "Dandora" sounds almost like trancey techno with its wistful repetitions, and the aptly named "Euphoric" features computer-generated vocals alongside the band's typically mangled vox. "End of Ends" is as ominous and foreboding as the title suggests, while "Trilianum" creates a wondrous, fanciful mood through bright melodies. The closer, "Evolution", seems to be a quieter remix of the opening track; familiar yet completely new. Evolution is an album that constantly surprises, maintaining strong and cohesive identity without an ounce of filler - a testament to the band's skill.

Disharmony runs the risk of alienating dark electro fans with their beautiful synth-work, and ambient fans will likely crinkle their noses at the massive beats and broken vocals, but Sauron and Ryby merge these elements deftly; there's no doubt these guys are talented songwriters as well as master programmers. Evolution expresses chaos and beauty in equal measure: both the profound wonders of life (see if the atmospherics of "Sacriface" don't move you) and life's utter confusion and baffling mystery (that same song's mangled vocals).

Most of the lyrics on the album are all but unintelligible, but I'm not entirely sure it matters; for me, the vocals represent the chaotic side of the music, creating a juxtaposition with the darkly brilliant moods and melodies. If you ask me, what the lyrics actually say aren't nearly as important as their form and placement among the rest of the music. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but from the first listen, these seemingly intentional opposing forces really struck me, and this finely tuned balance between order and chaos is one of Evolution's strongest draws.

I'm a big fan of electronic music that encompasses both ends of the emotional spectrum in this manner. Evolution achieves this with ease, recalling classics like Mentallo & the Fixer's seminal Where Angels Fear to Tread (1995) and Gridlock's final album, Formless (2003), as well as recent releases such as Die Sektor's To Be Fed Upon (2006). In my experience as a fan of this type music, such delicately balanced design is rare indeed, and Disharmony pulls it off better than most, and seemingly, without effort.

A vastly interesting album from an extremely intriguing and talented band, Evolution is required listening for fans of experimental electronic music.

Note: Sauron and Ryby also have an instrumental project called Oxyd, which I also recommend quite highly.