Blast Radius vs. Paul Venkman - Purity

I have liked Blast Radius's work for quite a while now, so it's a nice privilege to have the right conditions to be able to review one of their works; but not just one of their works, as they also have the talents of one Paul Venkman coming in on the release, as well.

Now, Blast Radius was initially a solo project dating back to '07 by Lachlan Hessing. However, as time went on, the project evolved. Later on, Ryan Brewster was recruited adding in some strong guitar work. To put it lightly, I'm going to quote what I said about them in the review of Revenant Cult's Spectral Heresy, "...it always amazes me how they're able to go in one direction, karate chop you in the face, and judo flip you into a completely new direction."

Their counterpart in the project who's based in Sheffield, is a man nothing short of a perfectionist.He started back in 2011 as a remix project, remixing works by Celldweller and other Fixt Artists. However, it was time that he began his own career. But, he was hard on himself. All through '11 to '13, the man has scrapped and completely erased multiple songs for not being good enough for himself. He was his own critic, and would not accept failure. Finally, however, he was happy enough with his music to release an EP titled "Wake Up" this year (sadly, which I have yet to listen to). Not only that, but we were also lucky enough to get a collaboration effort between himself and the lovely Blast Radius duo.

And, to start off on this three track release, we're given a wonderful seven and a half minute song entitled, "Dreams". A very light synth comes in at first, which is slowly accompanied by some female choral effects. Then, the piano comes in just as slowly. And beauty is formed in Heaven as it all just becomes a glorious piece. I was shocked to see how well Venkman's voice came out. This man is like the voice of Jesus personified through a set of chords handed down by the Gods. Perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration, but, still, this man really knows how to make his voice sound nice. The beat never gets too loud, and remains fairly soothing, maintaining a fairly sythpop tone throughout.

Endure comes next as the second song on this EP, and works wonders as the piano work comes in first. The electronics come next, still maintaining that synthpop tone. There's a bit of an ambient tone lying deep in the background, creating a more atmospheric sound to the overall song. And, with a bit more of an emphasis of a digital effect on his chords, Venkman still manages to win me over.

And then we're delivered a remix by Intensity of the song Dreams. There's more of a focus on drum and bass, creating a bit of a faster paced experience. About half way through the mix, you get some wobbles here and there, but nothing too drastic to completely fuck over the song. But, while enjoyable in its own sense, cannot be compared to the original by far.

And, that's that. Blast Radius and Venkman have managed to create a release that I shall be listening to for a while, now. It seems to me that every time I listen to something by either character, I fall deeper in love with their music. And, considering that's the deepest emotion a human can possibly feel, that means a whole lot coming from me. I sincerely wish these fellows a lot of luck, and hope their EP sells well. May 15 2014