Customer Reviews

Ultrashiver

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

 

 

Overall not a bad album. Curve is one of my favorite groups ever, and Collide is close to Curve on my favorites list.

1. Touch--Great beat and melody...soft airy and intense..perfect opener.

2. Am I Here--ethereal, trip hop, Curve and Collide essence heard in this song equally.

3. Every Little Thing--Sounds like Curve but with kaRIN on vocals..great combo.

4. Beautiful Noise Machine--verses sound Collide, chrorus very Curve

5. Blacker Than Blue--This sounds ALL Curve, think, Open Day At The Hate Fest.

6. Soulcreeper--This is all Collide...Think Nightwish infused uptempo Collide.

7. Shooting Laser Beams--One of my favorites on the CD..Very downtempo and ethereal....dreamscape-ish...combo of Curve/Collide

8. Forwards & Sideways--One of the darker songs on the Cd...majority of influence sounds Collide derived.

9. Shiver X--Sounds like it belongs on the 28 days later soundtrack...great melody.

10. Imaginate--very slow tempo, with an impactful monolithic sound to it. Sounds more Curve. Great album closer.

Overall a really good album. I was hoping for a little bit more Curve style synth like on Blacker Than Blue, but overall the two groups work together pretty damn well, combining all of my favorite genres in a compilation that sounds just right considering the groups involved.

~EDIT--After repeated listens, it actually grows on you quite a bit, and I was impressed with it to begin with. Pick it up now! Great album.

and varied. This recording is more alternative in sound than Collide or Curve. It's a cd that is very well put together, very well written, and very well executed. I just wasn't too thrilled at the more alternative feel to it, but it is a quality recording.

Because it is so intricate, it is best listened to in segments.

I love Collide. I love Curve. Imagine if both bands collaborated...oh wait, they have but without singer Toni Halliday. Ex-Curve guitarist Dean Garcia and kaRIN and Statik from Collide have joined forces and have created a new project called The Secret Meeting. ULTRASHIVER is the results of the supergroup's collaboration. The music is eerily reminiscent of both Collide and Curve which for me is trip hop and altenative rock. There is even a hit of Cocteau Twins thrown in intermittenly in the music. Actually I think The Secret Meeting sounds more like Collide with a hint of Curve influences. The music took several listens for it to grow on me. The more I listen to it, the more I have grown to love it. kaRIN sounds wonderful as ever with her whispery, seductive vocals. The only flaw with the music (which is pretty minor in my opinion) is repetition. There is nothing particularly distinctive about each song that separates them from each other. The songs are definitely good but they sound too much alike. Overall I do enjoy "Ultrashiver" immensely. I hope this collaboration continues on, along with the members' other projects.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous to listen to this new CD. High expectations bumping against the realization that my tastes are very, very eclectic. I've love Curve for a while. And Collide is the newest on my list of "better late than never" discoveries.

However, there was no reason to be nervous. I love this sound. You have to check it out ... but it's not a listen in the car type of cd. It's made for headphones, lights low, and just letting the sound envelope you. Not that the music is soft or slow. Just the opposite. It is powerfully layered and deep, dark. And the beat.

The beat! Forget the standard backbeat that plays in so much electronic/dance/goth music. Here, they've created both a wonderful new rhythm driving the songs combined with a familiar steady pattern that holds it all together. I have to admit, at times during my first listen, I found my mouth dropping open as a track would suddenly shift to a deeper, more complicated, heavier, unexpected wave of drums, guitar, keyboard and voices.

Ah, the voices. As for kaRIN, her voice is the best I've heard yet. She maintains her signature whispery-ness, but has developed a deeper base. I seem to be using the word deep a lot talking about this cd. It fits. In every aspect.

Overall, if you haven't guessed, I loved it. Track3 "Every Little Thing" and Track5 "Blacker than Blue" are two of the stand outs ... but, honestly, all the tracks are fantastic.

This album is FRIGGIN'unbelievable.... These people are crazy talented.... Collide and Secret Meeting are seriously the most talented artists out there. Their music has depth, and her voice has as much depth as the music..... You can totally zone with this music. I hope these people make billions!!! I love them.

Collide's Statik & kaRIN collaborate with dreampop/trip-hop Curve guitarist Dean Garcia to come up with something that while not exactly boundary-pushing, still sounds fresh and new and is an excellent mixture of the two band's sounds. On the whole, the music is like a spacier and bit more funky version of Collide's darkwave sound. It's a very consistent album with great flow and without a weak track to be found. kaRIN's sultry, slithery vocals contribute a large part to the project's aforementioned consistency. If you're a fan of either of these bands, my guess is you're going to love it as much as I do.