Pyrroline - In The Dawn Of Freedom

Pyrroline returns with a powerful statement on their new album In The Dawn Of Freedom on Electro Aggression Records. For those not familiar with Pyrroline, they have released three albums under the moniker Pyrroline and they are: Behind The Horizon (2010), Ruins Outlast (2013), In The Dawn Of Freedom (2017) and one as Nordschlacht back in 2007 titled Silence Beauty & Cruelty. The members Arnte and Schmoun are known for their post-apocalyptic and dystopian imagery. The complexity of the music is cemented with lavish rhythms set to moderate tempos moving away from the herd and setting up the foundation for a new benchmark in the electro world. 

In The Dawn Of Freedom is no exception to what Pyrroline has been delivering over the years. Each album has inward and outward messages that tell stories we may or may not be able to decipher. Each track has its own identity, but the album as a whole is the complete package. There are artists where you like to hear certain tracks. With Pyrroline you make a commitment to the full assembly of material. It is an experience or a dark ride into one's deepest thoughts and Pyrroline' s music is the conduit to get you there. In The Dawn Of Freedom branches off from the science fiction themes of the past works to tell a story about revolution and all of the sacrifices that come with it. As you look at the cover artwork, it may initially appear to resemble Batman, but a deeper look will tell you other-wise. The cover actually depicts a statue of a Croatian king from the middle ages. You may wonder why a Croatian king's statue appears on a German electro-industrial band's CD cover. The theme of In The Dawn Of Freedom is deeply rooted in the Croatian War Of Independence from 1991-1995 when Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. There was a huge price to be paid for this independence. The loss of life was substantial with varying estimates. Amongst the tens of thousands of people killed in the war, there were billions of dollars of infrastructure damage, displaced refugees and a crippled economy. Everyone lost some and some lost all. Schmoun's parents are based out of Croatia and lost a lot during the war. Friends and family died and others are still traumatized from their military duties. Arnte and Schmoun wanted to commemorate all who fought for the freedom of Croatia as well as all of the victims. Within the CD inlay you can find many images from Croatia including one of Schmoun's father.

As for the actual tracks on this album you hear many similarities to the previous albums. Precision drumming and trance-inducing synths bleed one track into the next which has been the modus operandi for Pyrroline. Each track demonstrates great examples of the well-engineered approach Pyrroline takes when making their product. Every facet comes together and performs its role to display a wonderful end result. The atmospherics bolster and expand the reach of every song. Arnte's haunting whispered vocal approach may feel foreboding at times, but it's easy to overcome that feeling after a few minutes as the music sucks you into a relaxed state of mind.  This approach really works well within the mid-tempo pacing of the tracks. Everything fits, nothing is forced. As I stated before, the best way to experience Pyrroline is when you have time to listen to the album as a whole. For the most part but with the track 'With You' featuring Emdezet being the one exception, no one track really stands out over another. That may sound like a negative, but it is just the opposite. It's a compliment to the big picture Pyrroline has placed before us. It's difficult to hand pick a favorite track or two as they are all top tier throughout the album. The remixes are very interesting. One Eye Wanders has been somewhat quiet since releasing Glimpse/Recoil 7 years ago. The silence is shattered with a brilliant remix of 'Divine Revelation'; a hybrid collaboration between two of the best. Pyrroline and One Wanders joining forces is one hell of an event! The result is glorious with plenty of echoed distant vocals, bleeps and blips and a barrage of repetitive programming that is masterful and enchanting. K-Factor's takes an instrumental approach to 'One People'. It's hard to imagine that any remixer could add more to what the original offers, especially since we are talking about the highly proficient Pyrroline. K-Factor and One Eye Wanders are stand out artists that more should take notice of.

'With You' featuring Emdezet mentioned above is the one track that some may feel disrupts the flow of the album. The song itself is absolutely a good song, but the vocals really deviate from the overall whole I have been preaching. Musically, it's what you would expect, however the synthpoppy vocals remind me of a cross between Wolfsheim's Peter Heppner and Covenant's Eskil Simonsson making it somewhat of an odd track stuck right in the middle of the album. Arnte had written the music, but was struggling with ideas on how to lay out the vocals. A member of a technical forum Arnte enjoys frequenting by the name of Emdezet took the track and mixed his vocals into it. Needless to say the end result impressed Arnte so much he felt compelled to add it to the album. 'Fellow Passenger', 'Maria', 'Succeed' and 'Nikad Zaboraviti' will further solidify the fact that there are no precipitous drop offs from the top track all the way down. That’s how well done this album is. 

As you listen to In The Dawn Of Freedom you will discover why Pyrroline is a leading force in the genre, perhaps not in popularity, but certainly in skill. Check out this amazing release as soon as possible. Also, you can find Electro Aggression Records' homepage on Bandcamp and discover a bonus remix of 'Nothing To Lose' by Soillodge (Michael Renfield) that never made it to its intended destination on the album due to time constraints. It is now a Bandcamp exclusive and worth the one Euro asking price.