Customer Reviews

Intelligent Design

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I never heard of Cesium 137 before until recently. I was checking out the different albums people had bought in the industrial genre, and I came across a few who had gotten Cesium 137.

So I checked out this album.

It was a good choice to check out this album first. Their style is very different from a lot of the other industrial artists out there, and they seem to be going in the same direction as most forward thinking industrial bands, like Mesh or Seabound, taking on this lighter feel, with more emotion in the vocals, more of a...joyous, sound rather than, sad and monotonous. Perhaps they are going off to found a whole new genre of music in themselves!

But anyway, key tracks on this album are "Gravity" (my favorite), "Agonist" and "Transient". All these tracks show the band's ability to manipulate sound, and layer things in an intelligent and pleasing way to the ear! These songs truly immerse you in sound.

Pick this one up. It's a good buy, I'm not lying.

I must confess I am new to Cesium 137's music. I found a copy of their new album "Intelligent Design" in the used cd bins today at my favorite cd store and I was curious to check them out. I must say that I am glad that I did buy "Intelligent Design". This cd quickly reminded me what made me fell in love with trance music several years ago. "Intelligent Design" is 51 minutes of pure trance/EBM bliss. I found the songs very uplifting both musically and lyrically. While all of the songs on the cd are great, one of my personal favorite song on the album is the epic track "Gravity". I could imagine myself dancing to this song in a nightclub. "Transient" is another favorite track. The EBM influences definitely comes out in the music. Through out the entire cd I could definitely hear touches of Assemblage 23 and Angels and Agony. There was not a single song on the cd that I didn't like or thought was only mediocre. I am so glad I bought this cd when I had the chance too. "Intelligent Design" is destined to be a top 10 favorite for 2006.

I am not really familiar with Cesium 137. Other than hearing one song by them on a Metropolis Records compilation, "Intelligent Design" is pretty much a new listening experience for me. I came across this cd by accident in the used cd bins at my local record store. Being a huge fan of Metropolis Records, I bought the cd on whim. I haven't looked back since this past spring when I bought it. "Intelligent Design" blew me away. I absolutely loved the thoughtful mix of trance and EBM. Most of the music is more trance orientated but there is a definite EBM sound in the music. The songwriting on the cd is excellent. There is a definite emotional aspect in the songs.

"Intelligent Design" kicks off with the awesome "Forsaken", an epic dance song that is sure to fill the dancefloor at nightclubs. The song has a lot of energy and pop hooks. The song is followed up by one of my personal favorite songs "Hollow". The melancholy lyrics and vocals are simply transcending. "Gravity" picks up where "Hollow" leaves off. All the songs on "Intelligent Design" are special in their own right. The production is crisp and immaculate. This is how goth, industrial, EBM cds should sound.

Cesium 137 certainly converted this new listener into a fan. I easily rate "Intelligent Design" as one of the top 10-20 cds of 2006.

Great album by the Vince Guzzardo and Isaac Walter Glendening duo. That these two musicians have backgrounds in both classical music and contemporary electronic music production shows. I agree with their marketing literature that Cesium_137 is "a perfect synthesis of classic pop song structures, emotive vocals, and hard dance music grafted into one form". It is unfortunate that there are no audio samples here, but samples are readily found elsewhere on the web. Tracks "Gravity", "Agonist", "Transient", and "Eastern Sky" still enjoy regular rotation on alternative web radio, and while "Agonist" is the standout track, with one of the best bursts of brilliance I have ever heard around 3:13, this album is a rarity in that there are no filler tracks. Cesium-137 and Strontium-90 are the most dangerous radioisotopes to the environment in terms of their long-term effects, but Cesium-137 is insidious in that it is mistaken for potassium by living organisms, and is eventually passed up the food chain. Very creative contrast between destruction and intelligent design, and as much as I enjoy intelligent dance (IDM), the additional talent that Cesium_137 brings to their lyrics is absolutely incredible, and tracks "Forsaken" and "Gravity" are an especially good testament to this talent.