Customer Reviews

One Thing

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

 

 

I listened to the entire Metropolis records roster of bands on their web site, and bought this, Gridlock, and halog_gen, as they seemed the most promising acts (I already own all the famous acts on Metropolis' roster)

Most industrial music is amateurish - mediocre production, annoying gargling vocals, and uninspired music. Pulse Legion is none of those things. The best comparison I can give is to Frontline Assembly's recent albums: varied music, melodies, GREAT GREAT vocoder effect on the singing (loved it, please do more vocoded singing), interesting arrangements.

The music is quite varied: some dark, slow, others more uptempo. But, this is definitely *intelligent* industrial -- it's not made for mindless dance floors, but for listening (there's a lot of texture in there). And unlike the genre, the music never gets purely noisy -- the occasional screeching Bathory-like vocals go along with the melody (though I prefer the more melodic singing, with the harsh, complex music).

Very nice analog synths, lots of filter sweep effects, and funky drumbeats.

I've had the pleasure of seeing Pulse Legion live on several occasions, and at a show (in fact) is where I obtained my copy of this album. It's good stuff. Altogether, good music. Not ground-breaking, not earth-shattering, but enjoyable. My appreciation is probably genre specific, I would guess you'd have to like highly distorted vocals on top of compelling music in straight 4. Good rhythmic and harmonic complexity, good lyrical content, good music. Though I am slightly dissappointed at the watered down album version of "Torn Within" but... for anybody who's hearing that track the first time, the album version is still strong, compelling, and enjoyable. BUY IT

Pulse Legion is one of the finest of the "nameless" goth/industrial dance groups - meaning that, upon hearing them, you'll know you've heard them before on the dance floor, but you won't remember a single lyric or synth riff. The problem is that every song sounds very nearly the same - when you're first introduced to the throbbing, irresistable rhythm of this music, you'll want for it to succeed - and it does, if you listen to a single song. But as an entire work, it soon becomes extremely repetitive (one reason why they're a dance floor staple but the favorite group of almost no one). The one saving grace here is the beautiful reworking of Torn Within, featuring the beautiful vox of Amanda Jones. Their finest moment! Perhaps even enough to justify purchasing this otherwise lackluster-plus CD.