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Band: Zeromancer
Album title: Orchestra Of Knives
Release Date: 24 September 2021
Label: Trisol Music Group
Genre: Electronic Rock
Tracklist:
01. Testimonial
02. Damned Le Monde
03. Transparency
04. Mourners
05. Birthday
06. Terminal Love
07. Worth Less Than Deutsche Marks To Me
08. Orchestra Of Knives
09. Stand On Ceremony
10. San Zero
First, there was Seigmen - a monumental, one of a kind atmospheric rock band; unique, dark and profound. And as Seigmen's sound throughout the years became more and more influenced by bands such as Tool, Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode, they did what any band, wishing to take a drastic turn in their direction should do – break up (or take a hiatus) and create a new ensemble. We see it so many times, don't we? Bands, taking completely new directions in their sound, losing their signature sound and their soul; eventually gaining a new following, and perhaps losing the old. It's a circle, which is quite inevitable and coming to this point, I agree wholeheartedly with what Alex Moklebust, Erik Ljunggren, Kim Ljung and Noralf Ronthi decided to do when they felt there was no more creative energy left for Seigmen. They wished to develop their sound and flow more in the vein of industrial and electronic soundscapes, so Zeromancer was born.
The newly formed team kept themselves quite busy in the early 2000s, with three consecutive albums being released from 2000 to 2003 and what their music was in their earlier days was everything the dark electronic scene (with its many derivate forms) embodied: flamboyant, vibrant and all over the place. With their first three releases, the band produced catchy and danceable anthems such as "Dr. Online", "Clone Your Lover" and "Eurotrash" to name just a few, which are, well to be honest – kind of trashy – for today's standards. But as the core of Zeromancer was Seigmen, the more the band grew, the more it became obvious they could not escape incorporating profound ambiences and thought-provoking themes into their music and drift slowly from the cliché of anything cyber-goth, industrial rock and similar genres related.
It has been eight years since Zeromancer's last release before their most recent album, Orchestra Of Knives, came to see the light of a day at the beginning of this year's autumn. The reason for this long pause is quite understandable since Seigmen was reborn after many, many years and released a phenomenal album Enola in 2015, as well as Kim Ljung releasing four albums in the past decade with his project Ljungblut. Needless to say, it was worth the wait, as Zeromancer seem to be like a bottle of wine – getting better with age. There are no breaks on Orchestra Of Knives, as the album is set to overcome you in a blink of an eye, as the opening track "Testimonial" opens up with this pulsating, overpowering, yet very minimalistic sound and when Alex gets into the picture, he just pierces your soul with his stunning vocals. The track slowly builds up its tempo and intensity and it is such a phenomenal opener, as it represents the play between light and darkness, the duality of the album, which unveils itself within each track. From here on, what you are in for is a dynamic and versatile amalgam of electronic rock, intertwining with the grooves of synth-pop, the obscurity of industrial music, catchy features of EMB and emotive layers of atmospheric rock. There is a bit of devilish playfulness hidden in "Damned Le Monde", while "Terminal Love" sounds like a fragile romantic fairytale. The obscurity is well hidden in eponymous and again tangible "Orchestra Of Knives" and the cold sensations flow throughout "Stand On Ceremony", while "Worth Less Than Deutsche Marks To Me" flirts shamelessly with dark electronics and brings out the slightly disturbed and disfigured elements of it.
What Orchestra Of Knives delivers in all its synthesis of sounds and styles is a masterful symbiosis with a heavy emotional charge. Musically, much relies on minimalism, but everything is brought to the listener with perfectionism and paying close attention to details. What is undeniable is that Zeromancer is a band with a lot of experience and talent behind it and that guys surely know what they want to achieve with their sound and how to achieve it. They do not need to be out-of-place and noisy to be noticed. With their latest release they have once again proved, they are more than just another electronic rock band, as they inject a capturing atmosphere to each track, they put out – whether it will be sending chills down the spine, being thought-provoking or dreamy and romantically frail.
Orchestra Of Knives is displaying a wide array of emotions through elevating melodies, throbbing electronic grooves and melodramatic approach and is simply a must for anyone, who sympathises with electronic music, that has some unique zest to it.
The review was written by Ines
Rating: 9/10
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