Title: Ianus
Artist: Sensory Gate
Genre: Electronic
Release Date: 29th January 2009
Label: MHz Records
Album Review
The Italian / German hybrid SENSORY GATE is already best known for the eclectic remix works they’ve done for artists such as SLEEPTHIEF, FROZEN PLASMA and most prominently for the veteran formation KIRLIAN CAMERA. At some point, however, the time had come to give life to own tracks. So, besides working on tracks for Dante's "Divine Comedy Project" an educational / artistic program conceived by Marino Alberto Balducci of Phoenix Foundation / CRA Inits, they started crafting material that’d grow in a constant ripening process to ‘Ianus’, a retrospection as well as a glimpse into the future.
It is a ‘Crowd’ of people; our looks are being guided to on the first track. A little crowd, gathering in the masses of grey, worn-out faces, seeking something beyond decay, beyond what’s holding their hearts captive! They set out for a journey “into the unknown”, not knowing when or where they’ll find what they’re looking for, but everything seems better than what it’s like now. The first piece of the album is carried by a vibrant pulse, emerging from the organic drums and rolling bass mumblings who find their counterpart in the lush melancholy that at the same time bears feelings of hope and fear. Saddening washes of strings wash up on forlorn shores not far from which “...once were houses where you could live”. Now, all that’s left are ruins, ruins of times long gone, missed chances and lost love. And just like this person must have felt when walking through these ruins in their mind, the listener is going to feel on ‘Laying Hopes’, a soul-gripping piece of plaintiveness drenched in acoustic fragility.
Out of engulfed paths, enigmatic melodies meander towards you. Other times they seem like little drops of water, touching the surface of a subterranean lake creating cavernous atmospheres. It’s just the beginning of what eventually leads into an elaborate build of drums and majestic orchestral flashes. But the feeling you get when listening to ‘Senseless’ isn’t exhilarating. All the time it’s like lying awake at night and being haunted by ghosts of painful events that all come back at night, stealing the strength from you piece by piece, and in those moments you often think it’d be better to feel nothing anymore to end the terror. With ‘In The Distance (The Black Monolith)’, there comes a chilly mood into your rooms, yet it’s not frigidity that reigns here. There’s a subdued emotional undercurrent, surfacing more and more throughout the song and at one point abruptly erupting into a desperate outcry “Escape from here.”
A very special song, at least for me, comes with ‘Stay Here’. I loved it from the very first second due to its natural character. It’s natural in the way it melds synth aesthetics with acoustic orchestration. At no point in that song you’ll have the feeling of these two components not belonging together exactly as they are being presented here. They’re flowing seamlessly into one another with a third stream that is the vocal delivery. It is the very last resort of a man trying to keep the person he loves from leaving. He’s ready to subjecting himself completely “…Wash away the sin from me you fear.” He’s doing it for candid love. Now let’s follow “…a wandering king without a throne” in ‘Streets’. That king’s fate could be the one of me or you just as well. A restless soul, fighting each day on his own but deep inside seeking for a place to finally come to rest!
‘Streets’ draws upon down-tempo rhythms to comply with the rather atmospheric synth build wrapped around them. Adding to that remarkable mood is also the earthly bass work of Bernard le Sigue, whose low-tone melodies can be heard at any second and give the song even more colour. The song’s vocal section comes up with a duet of Max and alia this time who has been lending her voice to ‘In The Distance’ already. I think that the two voices harmonize extremely well together, even though their timbre is different. Well, with the title track arising, the end does as well, and what an unusual end. Its industrial sound alone already sets it apart from the rest, but with the alienated voice, mentioning words such as “backwards, forward” it could as well be a song of a different band.
So what’s to say about SENSORY GATE’s debut album ‘Ianus’ in the end? Let me put it this way. It’s like one of those releases usually coming in autumn. Those you didn’t really have on the bill and that turn out being one of the highlights. It’s something like that with this album, only that the year’s just begun. Many people will be completely surprised by how well-crafted this is. It will appeal to both people who’re looking for bands thinking outside the box, taking in diverse influences, and those seeking tunes with pop appeal which these tracks do have. Not the kind of mainstream pop appeal though. Before I wrap this off, one word about the artwork! It may be looking simple from its imagery but connected with the lyrics and the music, the meaning will expand way beyond the visual. What I actually wanted to say was: This record is worth every single cent.
Tracklist
01. Crowd - 4:12
02. Laying Hopes - 5:53
03. Senseless - 5:46
04. Hallowed - 3:23
05. In The Distance (the black monolith) - 4:14
06. Murder 23 - 4:32
07. Purgatory - 4:54
08. Again - 5:44
09. Stay Here - 4:50
10. Streets - 4:59
11. New Dawn - 4:52
12. Ianus - 2:44
Line-Up
Andrea Pozzi - Music, Electronics, Programming
Max Iannuzzelli - Music, Vocals
Website
http://www.megahertz.org/ / http://www.myspace.com/sensorygate
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 9 / 10
{jos_sb_discuss:19}
Comments powered by CComment