Artist: Cryogenica
Title: From The Shadows
Genre: Dark Rock / Gothic / Industrial
Release Date: 25th October 2014
Label: Self Released
Album Review
The UK’s CRYOGENICA deserve so much more than cult status. Perhaps held back by lazy tags – a bit Goth, a bit Industrial, some SIOUXSIE here, a smattering of NIN there – they are actually very much their own band, and with a progressive and individual sound that translates equally well from their recorded output, to blistering live performances. No-one wants their favourite new band to sell-out and ‘go mainstream’, but hiding them in a cupboard and shining a torch on them once a year isn’t exactly helpful either. Apt that the late-2014 release by CRYOGENICA then, should be titled ‘From The Shadows’, as this serves as both a frustrated plea, and a boots-down, full-on statement of intent. Let’s see what’s emerged…
The scuzzy opening to lead track ‘Together’ heralds an explosion of massive drums, blacker than black guitars and a killer melody, all clocking in under 4 minutes in an impressive and assured stab of complex dark-rock. Stripped back and swaggering, it’s a focused and razor-sharp progression from 2010’s ‘Re-animation’. Somewhere dank and dark and pulsing, there’s an underground club that will play ‘Lord Of The Flies’ on repeat, its density and intense bleakness propelled in every direction by a huge beat. Elsewhere there’s ‘The Preacher’, busy and jittery with gorgeously sinister vocals, the seductive, Eastern-promise of the wonderful ‘Intrusion’, and the deceptively pretty melody of ‘To The Sky’, swallowed and bullied by a cascade of drums and driven guitars into something truly fabulous.
There’s a slight miss-step on ‘Solitude’, something clumsy holding it back in parts, too basic and obvious, despite a thunderous chorus of sorts. But this detracts very little, and the album hurtles to an end in epic style. There’s a portentous and downright terrifying intro to ‘Self-Made Man’ before the nursery-rhyme vocal and furious instrumentation take this somewhere very dark indeed. Which leaves ‘The Choice’ to sign off. A creeping, crawling, spidery song, beautifully odd and dangerously addictive. It’s as eerily gothic as it’s possible to get, but absolutely cliché free. An achievement in itself, and one that perfectly closes this chapter in the intriguing world of CRYOGENICA.
There’s certainly nothing for the faint of heart here. It’s an unrelenting blackness that swirls and curls around these 11 tracks, but therein lies the appeal. ‘From The Shadows’ feels fresh and self-contained, reference points are few and shrugged off anyway, and the quality and focus of the song-writing shows the band are absolutely ready now for a wider audience. Make CRYOGENICA your favourite new band. But don’t forget to share them.
Tracklist
01. Together
02. Insanitorium
03. Lord Of The Flies
04. Solitude
05. The Preacher
06. Something Said
07. Intrusion
08. No Regrets
09. To The Sky
10. Self-Made Man
11. The Choice
Line-up
Carina – Vocals, keyboards
Scott – Guitars
Jon – Guitars, vocals, keyboards, samples
Website
http://www.cryogenica.co.uk / https://www.facebook.com/cryogenicauk
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10
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