Crytek - Spectral Infection (Underground Edition)

Crytek. Name that I've never heard before but decided to give it a try. The project was formed in 2012 by a French artist Xavier Schattel who calls this project "future synthpop". With the standards that are around - this has nothing to do with synthpop at all... but that's not a bad thing! The album really surprised me. It's well produced, very dynamic and energetic. Loads and loads of vocal fx (autotune, distortion, etc.), hard hitting drum loops and fast guitars (!).

The bands Facebook page says that Xavier is inspired by: Celldweller, Blue Stahli or Neuroticfish to name a few. I would add Flesh Field here and I think we have a pretty good vision of how it sounds. The very first song already gives us a ~130bpm dancefloor hit. But then again I haven't been to a party with music like that for at least five years now? There is a small feeling to the songs on this album which bring us back to 2004. Second track is a bit slower in feeling, with additional female vocals.Guitar work here is very nice here, but this does sound like Flesh Field from the Strain area. That;s all good with me because I loved that album. Third track "Ghost in You" is yet another slower track. Also with a female vocalist which seems not to be credited anywhere unfortunately...

Track seven brings another style. With this song you can hear quite a big influence taken from the dubstep world. It's no skrillex here but I like the wobbly sounds and the track itself sounds pretty good. The next song "Delta Prime" gives a hint why the artist calls this synthpop. Besides the pumping guitars and a quite aggressive vocals, the sounds used & the melodies are very poppy.This song actually reminds me a bit of Apoptygma Berzerk Live.

What I think I like the best about this album is that there's really quite a lot going on in the speakers. There's some nice drum samples, glitches etc. The songs sound mid 2000 which brings back good memories. What definitely stands out from other bands like this is the autotuned vocal here which is mainly used by either IDM bands or "real" synthpop. I like how this type of vocal is mixed with the more aggressive vox. The additional female parts also give this a nice feeling.

The only thing that puts me down a bit, is that most of the songs use pretty much almost identical sounds. This gets tiresome a bit after a while, especially with mid frequencies being in front row. Listening to all the 10 songs on headphones, while enjoying the songs themselves may make you a bit tired of the sound itself...

Another cool thing about this album is that it is available for free: http://soundcloud.com/xavierschattel/sets/crytek-spectral-infection

If you like bands like Celldweller or Flesh Field. I'd say this is at least worth checking out. Jan 29 2013