Title: Blood
Artist: Fractional
Genre: Electronic
Release Date: 27th April 2010
Label: Tympanik Audio
Album Review
Belgian one man army FRACTIONAL’s been spooking around in the scene for years, contributing his style given the name ‘Gothic Erotica’. Latest he’s attracted the attention with ‘Come Mierda’, released on Brume Records in 2008 and now after two years brings us ‘Blood’ through the careful hands of Tympanik Audio. ‘Water’ is starting the album with an erratic cocktail of drum’n’bass rhythms, getting the pulse up high in an instant and with the majestic pads added it has you drifting through to other spheres. They give you the feeling of listening to melodies from a time long gone, having passed through the time to be captured and conserved by FRACTIONAL. The title track picks up the pace of its predecessor; yet to those patterns there’s a rougher edge and a head-swinging force that I didn’t feel in the other track. The mood is like watching the day pass with the slow setting of the sun, a picturesque tableau given a sonic equivalent with the layers here. Even though ‘Wo’; which actually sounds like the German translation for ‘Where’; was given a harsher start; then turning it to a much more “simple” composition in having collide dense atmospheres with a rather straight beat and a few gimmicks.
‘Thear’ brings the seducing tones of a siren, played over a selection of mutilated and maimed beats, broken out of their prison finally to bless the world’s ears, mixed with crackles that altogether make for a hypnotic experience. ‘Hu Wei’ invokes a Far-Eastern, folkloristic feeling and does not sound too much electronic at all. On ‘Niv’, you’ll be getting embraced by a set of weightless melodies and bleeps, leaking deep into your subconscious and from afar or better beneath, there’s a noise ascending slowly, just to fade gradually into the ether while the track’s proceeding on subdued drums. The lovely ringing of bells shows the way into an open valley, filled with the distinctive air of wistfulness while a shifting beat flirts with its molecules, breeding a complex symphony of machines and emotions. The album closer ‘Ne’ leads us out of the valley into a thick jungle. Behind every leave, every corner there seems to lurk something. Strangely enough, we’re walking through with no fear and just enjoy the sublime moods it’s giving us.
I couldn’t tell why exactly I’m not having the same feelings about ‘Blood’ as about many other artists works, incorporating drum’n’bass. But maybe it’s in the way FRACTIONAL is melding those with the deep atmospheres. How he’s bringing diversity into the tracks in not repeating the same pattern over and over with just a different melody played over it. I wouldn’t call that style “Gothic Erotica”, I deem “Mystical Electronica” a lot more fitting. An album that you have to check and don’t give up if it doesn’t unfold on first listen. It’s worth the effort and it’s giving a lot more than you might imagine.
Tracklist
01. Water - 3:28
02. Blood - 4:36
03. Sie - 3:12
04. Wo - 4:49
05. Thear - 3:52
06. Nupkt - 3:16
07. Hu Wei - 1:23
08. Elephant's Dance - 4:16
09. Niv - 4:16
10. Lows - 3:29
11. Mel - 2:43
12. Ofue - 3:47
13. Ne - 4:52
Line-Up
Eugenie - All Music & Production
Website
http://www.fractional.be/ / http://www.myspace.com/tirofcnaal
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 10
Extras: -
Total: 9 / 10
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