Artist: In Strict Confidence
Title: Utopia
Genre: Electro / Industrial
Release Date: 21st September 2012
Label: Golden Core (ZYX)
Album Review
IN STRICT CONFIDENCE has been on a scene long enough so they don’t need much in the way of introduction so let’s get down right to the ‘business’, that is talking about their latest album ‘Utopia’, more precisely we’ll be dealing with the standard edition (whereas the double CD contains some bonus songs and videos and is thus more orientated to die-hards and connoisseurs).
This ‘Utopia’ will not be for those who are on a look out for a string of club hits, though ‘Morpheus’ and ‘Tiefer’ have been hitting the alternative chart in Germany in the bull’s eye, this is not surprising - for ‘Tiefer’ it is probably due to it being a clear contender in a Neue Deutche Härte with ISC aesthetics of sound, where ‘Morpheus’ is enchanting but yet quite orthodox for lovers of EBM/ Electronica with a poppy, catchy chorus on top of it. There are also few less expected strong moments that could satisfy those who yearn for such, to mention some let’s take ‘Irgendwo Im Nirgendwo’, where the guitars remind of later day DEPECHE MODE, and at the same time it has something quintessentially German about it, the vocal is nonchalant and though the song as a result appears to feel distant, it nevertheless digs itself into memory all the more. ‘Archangel’ is interesting with the way the band can tackle Rock and stamp it with their own trademark song-writing.
‘Silver Tongues’ has an epic feel about it, helped with theatrical interchange of male and female vocals, with the later closely approaching operatic at times. Following ‘Silver Bells’ stands out with a great narrative and though catchy as hell it goes beyond it, it even surprises with a guitar solo with a twist – that is, it doesn’t feel like you’ve heard it gazillions times before. It’s beautifully dark and textured song and for me the album’s favourite. And yet... though the band takes and marries several styles into their sound (except the above mentioned styles you can also hear Rock elements represented in ISC’s melting pot), the album possesses a great deal of flow and wants to be considered as something that strikes as a whole rather than something that can just be taken apart in a haphazard way.
What they have to say lyrically is probably most open to bilingual speakers as the songs alternate from English to German; this however doesn’t break the sense of the album creating a feeling of connection. It also felt to me that the band was trying to experiment, not necessarily by using different trends, but by the way they were forging the sounds together. So as it appears like they are trying to see where to go further from their achievements. It’s exciting to hear what will come next after this wonderful album, which felt like as step in gaining that momentum.
Tracklist
01. Morpheus
02. Tiefer
03. Justice
04. Forever And More
05. Archangel
06. Irgendwo Im Nirgendwo
07. Being Born
08. Karasevdah
09. Silver Tongues
10. Silver Bells
11. She Came With Knives
Line-up
Dennis Ostermann
Nina de Lianin
Jörg Schelte
Stefan Vesper
Haydee Sparks
Websites
https://www.facebook.com/instrictconfidence / http://www.instrictconfidence.com
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 9
Total: 8.5 / 10
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