Customer Reviews

Inferno

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Project Pitchfork has always been a band in a somewhat precarious position, treading the fine lines between gothic, industrial, EBM, and synthpop - using elements of all, but belonging exclusively to none. This meshing of genres can alienate potential fans, but wins many at the same time. PP's new album, Inferno, brings together all the loose ends of their earlier work, and the result is by far their most complex and accomplished release to date.

The personnel of PP has varied over the years, but the driving force has remained the same: Peter Spilles. He's got an instantly recognizable voice and delivery; a dramatic monotone that has a tendency to stick in the listener's head. Spilles is no eight-octave-ranged opera master, and he knows it. He has mastered his rhythmic chanting style, polishing it to a dirty shine. His voice flows comfortably from English to German, always leaving the listener looking forward to the message of the next line. The lyrics of Inferno are half of what makes it PP's best album. There is a common theme throughout Inferno: how the boundless potential of the individual is constantly threatened by an emotionless, doubt-inducing society. To quote "The Awakening": "It's a tricky world we are born into/there's a spiral down prepared for you/all you have to do is sell your doubts/to the one who pays the most." This is a topic that's easy to make mundane and uninteresting, but Spilles' casual intensity and poetic language cause the listener to take notice, and be moved. This is apparent in the first words of the opening track "Momentum": "These words are like paper ships/on the river of your attention/sent to reach your ocean/and sink into its depths." The force-fed dogma of PP's past, less mature work has all but vanished, and as a result, Inferno has a personal, profound effect that increases over time.

Musically, Inferno may not have the immediately gratifying energy and synth hooks of past songs like "Io", "Lam'Bras", and "Steelrose", but, much like the subtle impactfulness of the lyrics, the intertwining melodies of Inferno are masterfully crafted. No one can combine classic guitar, piano, and synthline into an electro dance track like Project Pitchfork. The band's musical focus has expanded tenfold during their career, and it's reached a kind of apex with Inferno. Like Rhys Fulber's recent (and similarly brilliant) Conjure One release, the difference between electronic and organic instrumentation may not be immediately apparent. The tracks move your soul ("Der Absprung" with its glorious synth/piano melodies), your feet (the layered percussives of "The Deepest Place" or the dancefloor-friendly "A Cell"), or both ("Lightwave" - a perfectly shaped intelligent EBM track). But then throw in the driving, guitar-heavy anthem "I Am" and the light, airy, meandering "Sinus" (consecutive tracks, in fact), and Inferno reaches far beyond the inconsistent, narrow focus of PP's prior efforts. It really is remarkable that Inferno encompasses such a range of musical styles while still flowing smoothly and retaining the album's identity - implications that PP have grown into masters of their craft.

As a long-time fan, it's marvelous to see Spilles & Co. finally fulfill their own potential, hinted at in bright fragments for so long. In an industry of superficial, cloned, and soulless pop music, it's comforting and inspiring to realize artists like Project Pitchfork are cruising just below the surface, waiting to be discovered and experienced. In the end, though, it's perhaps ironic that Inferno, their best work, may not seem as such at first listen. Its complexities may not hit you right away. Given time and attention, however, you'll learn to appreciate the depths of Inferno, one of the most intelligent, mature, profound, and carefully crafted electro albums of the past ten years. A highlight of 2002 - strongly recommended.

I really like this album. I was one of the very few people who was not a huge fan of "Daimonion". "Inferno" brings to mind the feeling I got from "IO" and "Alpha-Omega" (my two favorite Project Pitchfork CDs). Every song on Inferno unfolds nicely to the listener, like watching a painter put oils to canvas. I haven't listened to it enough to get into the lyrics yet, but the music is fantastic. Ethereal...with a touch of darkness.

It's always hard to recommend a Pitchfork CD. It seems like everyone has their own opinion on what elements they like about the band. I, for instance, love "Eon:Eon", but my best friend hates that CD. Another friend can't get enough of "Daimonion", and I don't really care for it.

For what it's worth, all three of us love "Inferno".

I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive about the release of this album. Daimonion was a great album, but also a very "safe" one. Almost every song had great dance-floor potential and a good melodic strength to it, but there just wasn't that much experimentation as on prior releases. The first album that I heard from P.P. was Chakra Red. I may be in the minority, but I loved that album. It took the presence and originality of classics such as Io or Alpha Omega but went in many different directions with the added touch of guitar and the heavy-handed percussion (ex: Malicious Delight, Human Crossing). Eon:Eon had some great songs, but I felt that it was more of a collection of songs than a cohesive album. It too was experimental in nature, but some of the songs weren't all that great and it didn't seem to flow as well. Inferno is exactly what I was hoping they would do with their next album. It has the passion and strength of the old classics and yet has a very gutsy experimental feel that I haven't heard since Chakra Red. They have continued to integrate piano/heavy guitar/clean arpeggiated guitar but more smoothly than in the past and the instrumentation has a slightly more organic edge than past efforts (Daimonion). Don't get me wrong, I love a good techno beat, but after 4-5 songs that all sound like Raver tracks, it gets a tad tiresome. I know everybody isn't into the whole "experimental" thing, so I will use a better term to describe the record. Evolved. This album shows a band that isn't content to just find a "sound" and repeat the same formula until fading away into stagnation.

Let me simplify the other reviews:

This is not a band to be compared to other emb/industrial artists. This is a band that other artists should be compared to...because it's who other artists want to be. This one takes a second listen (turning it up loud helps build your appreciation of it faster). It's yet another evolution in their style but is definitely of the caliber one would expect from them. If you like other PP albums, and you don't like this you're either not listening, or you've been missing the boat all along.

This is by far theeeeeeee best album yet by Project Pitchfrk. The music sounds like...real mjusic. It may be electronic, but it sounds full...and it's mesmerising. This is a fantastic album by a band that is often hit and miss. As far as music composition goes...this is by far the best effort to date. I can't say enough good things about the music. Amazing album. Good stuff.

I dont care what anyone says, this album is excellent. I listen you metal/punk/rock and industrial but I love stuff like this. Songs like Momentum and Souls in Ice show how they hit all the broad sides of the spectrum. This cd flows together as a whole nicely. I recommend their 245 minute dvd. Just an excellent, mysterious, melodic band. En Garde!

Everything these people have made has been so all encompasing and meaningfull. I don't even think of them as industrial, they are a class of their own. Each album seems to show more and more hope. As I travel up their discography, the almbums elict more positive feelings in me. Inferno is the Apitome of musical mastery. It's an anthem, lesson, mind expanding metaphysical journey, and a self reinsuring piece of work all in one. I can't help but to tear when I hear Awakening. Wonderful.

I recently was introduced to Project Pitchfork thanks to a friend of mine who burned a PP song for me on an industrial compilation awhile back and on the latest compilation from Metropolis Records (2002 - "Time Killer"). I was absolutely blown away by what I heard. The vocalist reminded me a lot like VNV Nation's Ronan Harris, especially on "Time Killer". My curiousity was definitely piqued and I really wanted to check out more of their music. When I stopped by the record store near my work, I found their new album "Inferno" just begging me to buy it. The music on this album is everything I was expecting...and that was simply killer music to entertain my ears. It is very melodic with those fast-paced synth/futurepop beats yet extremely aggressive especially on songs like "Slow Motion". It is really difficult for me to pick one particular favorite song off this album. This album is just as amazing as when I first heard VNV Nation's "Futureperfect" and Apoptygma Berzerk's "Harmonizer". I am just blown away by this group. Metropolis Records continues to amaze me by signing such incredible bands like KMFDM, Apoptygma Berzerk and VNV Nation. I can't wait to hear more music from Project Pitchfork.

It is worth noting, immediately, that there is no reason to get this expensive copy-protected...In the past few years, I have found that I've greatly enjoyed Project Pitchfork's strong singles ("Carnival", "Steelrose", "I Live Your Dream", "Existence", and "Timekiller" have all gotten plenty of play by me as both a deejay and a music lover). However, rarely have their albums held my interest. This album marks a turnaround: I enjoy listening to the entire album, but I haven't picked out a strong obvious single yet.

Musically, it's a great place to start with Project Pitchfork; dark pop, with some gothic rock leanings and electronics used to enhance the effect rather than create a dumbed-down dance sound...

I own 21 discs from Project Pitchfork, including all their albums. This album is a bit different than the last one, Daimonion. The first thing I noticed is that 3 of the songs had German lyrics, which is quite a departure from past PP albums on which only 2 albums (Alpha Omega and Eon:Eon) had one German-lyric song each. This lends a bit more variety to the album, but cannot make up for one glaring fact in this album: the lead singer, Peter Spilles, does not use his trademark vocal abilities on this album much and overall his lyrics sound a bit monotonous compared to previous albums. Although this album flows better and is more consistent than Daimonion, it just seems kind of boring in comparison. If anything, this album is more accessible than previous albums and may introduce more people to Project Pitchfork. The two EP's released in the NUN trilogy with Inferno, View From a Throne and Trialog, are a bit better and you wouldn't miss much by skipping this album and getting those two EPs instead.