CD Review: Celldweller - Wish Upon A Blackstar

Written by Kira Kalinina Friday, 15 June 2012 11:09

Artist: Celldweller
Title: Wish Upon A Blackstar
Genre: Electronic Rock / Breakbeat / Techno /Trance
Release Date: 12th June 2012
Label: FiXT/Celldweller

Album Review

It is very difficult to find any words and more over to find so many words to describe fully that delight shakes my body and stucks like a bur in the throat, when I listen to CELLDWELLER’s works. I’m close to create a church in the name of Klayton, and I think there will be a lot of people, who would like to join it. Btw. according to church… Klayton was growing up in a quite religious family and quite strict Christian environment. As a child he wasn’t able to listen to all kinds of music, so he started his way with Christian Industrial. He became popular in this scene very quickly. But this fact has two sides. On the one hand, I truly believe, it’s because he’s a gifted musician and everything he achieved is the logical result of his talent and inner energy. On the other hand, he himself told about the Christian musical business: It was hard to fail on that scene, since the Christian label surely produces and distributes like a thousand of the CDs.

Of course there are some conditions, and mentioning God in your lyrics would increase number of copies. However with time Klayton found himself unable to continue following that path anymore, since he was criticized for not using religious stuff in his songs much enough. He needed not that much time to become a highly requested musician in clubs, TV or Game-business; he took part in numerous TV-projects, wrote music for MTV-shows and numerous videogames. Although that times were harsh enough and there was a lot of problems. Even if sometimes Klayton seem to be quite cold and restrained in the interviews, reading his personal posts where he tells about the whole story and problems he had to go through, I can imagine him very emotional.

But back to the album ‘Wish Upon A Blackstar’. This album took like seven years to be done. The very first demos were done back 2005, and the half of the album was released in four parts, with two songs on each of them. The first Chapter was released 2009. The complete album consists of all the Chapters plus eight more new tracks. If you ask him about modern music or any tendencies the answer will be: “I don’t listen to modern music”; and this fact confirms, that CELLDWELLER’s music is the real miracle. It is free of any clichés and doesn’t follow any society’s requests. At the same time the project is very popular, his music sometimes is really pop, his public is quite wide all over the world, and concerts are seem to be regularly sold-out. The spirit and energy of his music charms the listener bringing to imaginary science fiction worlds. Science fiction is maybe the only thing which really influences the musician.

“One thing I've always been naturally attracted to is science fiction. I think I could relate to it as a kid because there were always lone figures exploring uncharted galaxies and planets, surviving against all odds and occasionally rescuing a damsel in distress. I didn't try to hide the fact that these things influenced me in the artwork for ‘Wish upon a Blackstar.” – he says. ‘Wish Upon A Blackstar’ sounds very quick, musically as well as vocally, what brings a lot of power and makes the listener to really concentrate on the record, so you don’t miss anything. But there are also some “ballads” like ‘Gift for you’, ‘The Seven Sisters’ or ‘It Makes No Difference Who We Are’. Following almost one after another in the second part of the album, they make an impression like they slow the whole work down. Klayton is high spiritual person, who went a hard way already, and probably has more harsh obstacles in his future. However, listening to his music and reading his interviews or posts, it is easy to see the inner strength and energy, leading him through this life.

The pressure of his music could maybe confusing for some listeners. For those, who doesn’t like it, Klayton always has an advice: “Delete my album and listen to Justin Bieber, I heard, he’s pretty good.” For the braves, who are looking for powerful electronic sound, science fictional club music with meaningful lyrics – ‘Wish Upon A Blackstar’ will be like an orgasm for the ear.


Tracklist

01. The Arrival
02. Unsheakable
03. Blackstar
04. Eon
05. Louder Than Words
06. Memories of a Girl I Haven’t Met
07. I Can’t Wait
08. Gift For You
09. The Lucky One
10. The Seven Sisters
11. Birthright
12. It Makes No Difference Who We Are
13. The Best It’s Gonna Get
14. So Long Sentiment
15. Tainted
16. Against the Tide


Line-up

Klayton


Website

www.celldweller.com


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 10
Sound: 10
Total: 10 / 10