Synthetic Dream Foundation, The - Behind the Gates of Horn and Ivory

Many of the compositions on the album show a strong penchant to rather straight and partly danceable structures. Especially this is audible in tracks such as ‘O’Dead Armoured Sky’ displaying a massive dance appeal, while not sticking with a simple dance structure but using a more differentiated rhythm with some additional layers and another trademark of the sound gets revealed here. The use of monumental classic orchestral arrangements with a very sophisticated sound, almost as if he had a real orchestra; well that might be a bit exaggerated but you still have to admit that these synths are sounding much more real than many others do. Moving backwards on the track list brings us to the first track ‘They Who Breathe Darkness’ where we see a different approach. In that track Brett combines the classic harmonies with a slower arrangement out of broken industrial beats with a subdued distortion and glitches.

Except for the two German titled songs ‘Eine dunkle sphärische Widerstand’ and ‘Eine schöne Ruine’ all songs have been kept strictly instrumental. I couldn’t understand if the lyrics were also in German as the voice coming out of the speakers is heavily distorted and I honestly couldn’t understand a single word. Sometimes less is more; in this case less distortion or at least the lyrics to the particular songs. The song ‘Among the Angels Debri’ has to be highlighted with its dramatic arrangement building the tension further and further, reaching almost soundtrack qualities. The track has one weakness though. I think it’s a bit too long with about 7 minutes. With a more compact arrangement it would have been brilliant.