Dekad - Monophonic

This is Dekad's third album. The band started out as a foursome but now mainly consists of it's soul member JB, who also was a part of the live lineup for the band Foretaste. 'Monophonic' marks his return since 2008's 'Confidential Tears'.

After listening to this record a few times I wasn't sure if I thought it was good or really really good. After a few more spins I still aren't completely sure. Hopefully by the end of this review, I will be. For the most part I really like the well constructed melodies with the dark undertones. The vocal performance is solid throughout the whole album. It's very dark and gloomy and goes well with the music. The unarguably highlights here are the poppy and playful "Darkiest Days" and the smash hit "So Sorry" featuring guest appearance by the vocalist from the aforementioned Foretaste. The lovely "What if" and the downright beautiful "Dirty Princess" also deserves mentioning. "Hands Over Me" will have you covered if it's a dose of electronics you crave.

That being said, no track on here is bad, far from it, they blend perfectly in with the rest of the album creating that nice dark theme which it fortunately never brakes loose from.

Dekad has managed to create a nice collection of tracks where every track feels like it needs to be there, although some are better than others. It really doesn't serve this album justice going through it track by track, there's something about the whole picture here, and in which it creates a nice atmosphere and fluidity from start to finish.

As to the production, it's pretty much flawless in my book. The beats really pop and the vocals are nicely layered on top of the synths, not falling too far back and not standing out too much.

So now I'm sure. At it's best this album is, really really good, and at it's worst, it's good. Luckily for you it creates a win win situation. Jan 22 2013