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Title: Monumentum
Artist: Frozen Plasma
Genre: Electronic
Release Date: 29th May 2009
Label: Infacted Recordings



Album Review

So, here it is at last. ‘Monumentum’ the highly anticipated second album of the duo Vasi Vallis & Felix Marc aka FROZEN PLASMA and it’s a meaningful and huge name they’ve chosen for their sophomore release. It’s a Latin term meaning memorial or tomb and in the following we’re trying to figure out if the long and hard work’s result is the one or the other.

‘Open’, a simple name for such an epic piece of music. Monumental and symphonic, arrangement-wise elaborated to the last detail and furnished with the pulse of melancholy. May I say that this is quite an unusual opener for a FROZEN PLASMA record; I mean I did expect a tiny introduction but never a piece of such scale. Well then, let’s get going with the first proper track. Is death ‘The End’ or is it deliverance? Either way, it’s a farewell and all the grief that naturally comes with it is here in this song, embodies as billowing dark clouds of strings and pads twining around Felix’ voice that seems like coming from the great beyond, an echo from a world we’re even unable to perceive, much less to understand. The beat rolls in first a fair while later after the mere instrumental company and Felix’ urgent words were for a long time our only escort on the path of dying.

‘The Speed of Life’, for some people that means living in the fast lane. “Living Fast, Dying Young?” But if you live your live with such velocity all the little moments that make a life worth living are just blurry shreds flying past you within the blink of an eye and one day we end up asking ourselves what we have done with the time given to us as there’ll be nothing but emptiness. To prevent that maybe it’s time to stop “…running away” to slow down and to slowly re-discover what life is actually about. Instrumentally it’s - if I may say that - a pretty typical if once again very serene FROZEN PLASMA track moulding luxurious atmospheres and straight beats together but not in a way that I would consider being particularly club-friendly. That would most likely be the case with ‘Phoenix’ that’s literally commanding to the floors by injecting the rhythms directly into your system. ‘Phoenix’ is also carrying the hope on its propelling wings; the hope we have to keep in our hearts that everything will get better one fine day even when our days are dark and clouded for a long time now…It’s getting better…

After the already as MCD released tracks ‘Tanz die Revolution’ and ‘Earthling’ [see our review] we discover the melancholy. She’s born out of deep longing, she arises out of doubts and comes within remembrance of moments that are in the past now. She’s the driving force and the soul of the ballad ‘Almond Flowers’, is in every note, synth evoked atmosphere and word that is so impressively delivered by Felix Marc. Get lost inside the endless sea of almond flowers on a night where the skies are bright with stars and which is perfect to leave in silence… Also the next track is all under her sign. ‘Touching Ground’, revolving around the compelling beauty of a piano melody but it’s also marked by an atmosphere of departure; of leaving the old and familiar behind, leaving the paths so many have walked before... “To discover what is still unknown”, rather a track to drown in than to move to at least that’s how I’m feeling about the song.

‘Murderous Trap’ actually is the track where you should say “Gees, a guy getting tugged into the seductive undertow of a Lolita girl, it’s not like we haven’t had that a billion times before in other songs.” And you’re absolutely right but not from FROZEN PLASMA but apart from that it’s not so much about the lyrics - which you should take with a pinch of irony by the way - but more about the inescapable dance factor this track has. A club smasher par excellence and it’s getting you addicted and once you heard the chorus it’s hard to get it out of your head, trust me. The instrumental ‘Forgotten Earth’ paints with liquid sonic colours landscapes of our planet we have just forgotten, wonderful mountains, woods, and rivers. This planet is a breathing, living entity with different faces and not just a lonely rock within the width of space to give us something to walk on. Re-discover how this planet feels and let this dreamy instrumental help you a bit. After ‘The Speed of Life extended’, the real end now comes with ‘Close’ which is ending the album just as epic as it began: Orchestral, melancholic and just beautiful!

Now the first thing would be the answer to the question if this album is a memorial or a tomb? I’m inclined to say it’s the former one. It sure isn’t the re-invention of the wheel and won’t win a price for leading innovation in electronic music but that was never the goal and so ‘Monumentum’ still is undoubtedly FROZEN PLASMA but it’s an evolution both of sound and compositional work and justifies every minute of waiting time for it. What struck me surprising while listening through it is that ‘Monumentum’ has become a pretty placid release! Genuine dance numbers like ‘Tanz die Revolution’ or ‘Murderous Trap’ are exceptions. I can live with that though and just say congratulations for this album guys!


Tracklist

01. Open - 2:57
02. The End - Deliverance - 5:24
03. The Speed of Life - 5:08
04. Phoenix - 5:29
05. Natural Born Liars - 6:40
06. Tanz die Revolution - 6:32
07. Earthling - 5:32
08. Almond Flowers - 7:07
09. Touching Ground - 6:23
10. Murderous Trap - 5:15
11. Forgotten Earth - 4:37
12. The Speed of Life (Extended) - 8:30
13. Close - 1:41


Line-up

Vasi Vallis - Music, Production, Lyrics
Felix Marc - Vocals


Website

http://www.myspace.com/frozenplasma


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 9
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 9 / 10


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