SHIV-R - Wax Wings Will Burn

With surely no need of much of an introduction, the duo that is SHIV-R has released their third studio album Wax Wings Will Burn via Infacted Recordings. The themes of this new album have been described so elegantly by the act as such, "...the triumphs and trials hang like artificial wings that give hope in the possibility of feats no mortal could achieve, or weigh heavily towards the ground." And, without further ado, let's just get hopping right into the music.

With the chimes that accompany a ballerina in a music box, Asylum opens up the album with a dark tone and handsome vocals. The hard hitting electronic bass that comes in spontaneously managed to floor me in every sense possible. The adjacent placement of the lighter elements to darker digs brought out a terrific first outing for the album.

Monster rakes in next, blending in some decent, acoustic like guitar on top of an electronic drop of all sorts of odds and ends. The absolute experimental nature of the song leads me to really understand as to why they've been coined the term "lace-industrial" by other media outlets.

Driving forth more of an EBM derived beat, though not just solely sticking with that genre as more club elements manage to break out, Eye of the Needle turns up the volume and delivers a high octane track that you can certainly dance, if not, stomp to. The vocal work presented here was superb, and on spot in every instance they rung out in the song.

With an electro-industrial feel slamming out with Territory, the clash of classical instrumentation with modern day technology boasted a pretty energetic and unique song. Diving into electronic territory, Wolves pushes forth another wonderful song that's backed by elements of trance. Lighter, more approachable for a wider audience, this track was fast and fun.

With a renewed frenetic energy ebbing off, Chemical utilized the pitch perfect lead vocals to switch between energized and fast vocals to more held notes, all the while the beat never loses its hyper tension. Dance of the Apocalypse had a wonderful slow segment placed around the one minute mark, that served only to reintroduce the heavy, slow hits that only a post-human world could showcase.

Of the Machine toned down a tad bit, still coming forth with an otherwise pulse pounding beat, and later parts of the song pushing out some lighter touched synth work. The ambiance of Shadow With a Voice that led the intro was not long lasted, as another dance-worthy hit shot in both my ears. This is a track that easily flows from one sound to the next, and is also a track that you could easily have fun with.

A new version of Blood Rose came in, dubbed with the Transfused suffix. I don't think you could go wrong with either version of the song, as both are absolutely stellar and beautiful all in one shot. Shaking off the slow pace of the previous track, Payload pulls us back into the frenzy, giving out another fast paced four and a half minute track.

And even with the second to last track, Retina, when you think you've heard all that these two can offer, they're ready to off that thought with another beat and structure that keeps you lured right in the album. And, with the final track, you can expect a culmination of creepier sounds and harsh elements to braze right into one another, forming a final work of love that left me off wanting to go right back through the whole album again and again.

And to find further words to describe my love for this album would be a task that would extend my vocabulary, as I would likely have to pull out a thesaurus just to unabashedly praise this work higher than I already have. Thirteen tracks of haunting bliss and electronic mayhem awaits anyone who dares to knock at its threshold, which I would imagine would be a lot of people considering how good this fucking album is. Go check it out. Oct 10 2014