The dance and trance end of the electro spectrum really aren't my scene. Perhaps it's my aversion to clubs and clubbing, perhaps it's because I can't / won't / don't dance, perhaps it's just not compatible with my internal rhythm. Still, it doesn't really matter: the point is that Mondkopf has impressed me with this release, not least of all because it doesn't entirely fit this category, and follows a number of different trajectories to good effect.
Opener and title track may pulse along with the kind of repetitive beat and bass motif that's necessary by the dictates of the genre, but there are some nice incidentals, some of which sound vaguely familiar though I can't place them for the life of me. There's something rather enjoyable in this strange sense of deja vu, when it's accompanied by some sweeping synth sounds that envelope the airwaves.
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'Werewolf Theme' is an altogether slower number, and builds layers of dense atmosphere beneath which blips and beeps ebb and flow above a deliberate but insistent rhythm. 'Legacy' continues in this vein, adding elements of Vangelis and Kraftwerk to produce a tight, taught and almost retro-feeling piece of electronica. The closer, 'Eclipsed' is without percussion, with sweeping synths and drones that are as wide as the sky with just the occasional industrial clank to disrupt the smooth atmospheric soundscape.
As a whole, this is an expansive and imaginative creation that paints from a broad palette, and it works well.
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