Artist: System
Title: Circle of Infinite Radius
Genre: Electronic
Release Date: 21st January 2011
Label: Progress Productions (Sweden) / Broken Silence (Germany)
Album Review
SYSTEM was founded in the mid 90's and is made up of two electronically progressive and well dressed gentlemen who like to call themselves Herr A and Herr B. Often their music is usually described as cold and robotic but under this metallic surface lies a beating human heart in robotic form. SYSTEM is defined as a whole compound consisting of several parts. And true to the bands definition, SYSTEM is a set of interacting system components that form an integrated whole. SYSTEM also investigates the temporal scales of existence in life through interactive experience which is reflected in the lyrics and sound of their songs.
The band’s new album, ‘Circle of Infinite Radius’, defines the architecture of human experience from love to pain and back. A circle of infinite radius is really a line which relates back to non-Euclidean geometry, curved space, space-time, and the fourth dimension. The more a circle is magnified or in this case, analyzed, the more it looses its infinite radius. In this album, SYSTEM seems to peer deeply into human experience and attempts to get to the heart of the matter just to find that it goes around in circles then ends up being linear.
The song ‘For You’ has a nice melodic flow with a synthesized voice that fits very well with the tune. It seems to be a love song describing self sacrifice and unconditional love. The next tune, ‘Inheritance’, has a great throbbing dance beat and seems to debate the state of our planet and makes anyone listening to it think about how humanity effects the environment and our ecosystem. Whatever comes after us, probably the machines, will inherit the mess we have made. This becomes strikingly apparent with the lyrics “we will be here long after you are gone” which points the finger at how careless humans have been with our fragile blue bubble. If we are not careful with our bubble it will POP. The circle of radius in this respect is the EARTH so we have to start to take care of it now before we destroy ourselves and it is inherited by the machines! The song seems to repeat this future omen over and over again.
The tune after this one is called ‘The Beginning of the End’ which has a harder and tougher industrial sounding clanging metallic beat which reflects the pain of a relationship that is in its final stages. The song ‘True Loyalty’ has sharp synthesized tones. It is a song that contemplates the loyalty and disloyalty of friends and generally people. A song of betrayal. Everyone can truly relate to this song in one way or another. The song seems positive in its stance to protect its notions of true and unconditional friendship even if the other party does not feel the same. The next song, ‘Common Sense’, seems to give advice to someone who is looking for their 15 minutes of fame. Following ‘You and Me (Nemesis)’ is one of my favourite songs on this album. Lovely synthetic and rhythmic danceable tones! A strong and mechanically intense synthetic beat. You can hear the conflict in the lyrics with “you or me, one of us has got to go” because it is not possible to occupy the same space! I think this is the best song on this album and specifically SYSTEM.
The song ‘Pitch Black’ has a nice reoccurring beat and a strong synthetic rhythm. It is a song about being trapped in one form or another. ‘In Your Heart’ seems to be a song about separation and has a nice upbeat sound even though the song itself is not so positive. The next song ‘Supremacy’ has a deep base and drum beat. It is a bit trance like futuristic theme with the lyrics “humanity is obsolete and machines reign supreme” which is a haunting prediction of what might be in store for us. ‘Adapt and Overcome’ talks about dealing with obstacles in life and how we can learn to overcome them while ‘Endnotes’ is also another of the best song on this album because its a dark and mystifying tune with the lyrics “turn off your dreams, turn off your feelings, nothing hurts like pain, you will become a machine, a soulless droid, nothing will bother you and you will cease to function”. We all know people like this or have gotten to this point ourselves in order to cope with everyday life.
Every song seems to be very precise and detailed in its execution. It also seemed like the band experimented with different types of sounds in many of their songs with what sounds like clanging metallic objects, drum sounds and synth beats. The songs are honest and straightforward. I could relate to every single song on this album and I am sure others will be able to relate to them too. This is an album for the intellectually “tuned in” mind and the overall theme seems to contemplate the human machine as a single entity interacting with both its internal and external environment. People who love the pure sound of synthesizers and synthetic vocals will love this album. It is perfect for those of us who are both optimistic and pessimistic about human interaction and relationships in the dimensions we occupy.
Tracklist
01. For You
02. Inheritance
03. The Beginning Of the End
04. True Loyalty
05. Common Sense
06. You Or Me (Nemesis)
07. Pitch Black
08. In Your Heart
09. Supremacy
10. Adapt and Overcome
11. Endnotes
Line-Up
Herr A and Herr B
Website
http://www.progress-productions.com/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 8 (To hear the synthesized vocals a bit better, raise the volume)
Extras: -
Total: 8.5 / 9
Comments powered by CComment