Note that we did receive free merch from Neon Insect prior to the writing of this review in the form of a cassette tape and a hoodie. This is to maintain full transparency. This does not effect the outcome of the review score.
The crazy bastard behind Neon Insect is back. Actually saying that he’s a crazy bastard is a bit of an insult but once you hit the play button and see his dedication to the story and world he’s built with Neon Insect you might agree with what I’m saying. It’s been a while since we’ve dove into the workings of industrial producer and former video game soundtrack artist Neon Insect but when we did, we gave the guy a rave review for “New Moscow Underground”. His latest outing is a direct follow-up to that album and follows the story. I won’t give a full recap but I will do a quick copy and paste of how Neon Insect describes this album’s story.
LIBERTY FLOWERS explores certain aspects of life in New Moscow. From the forbidden, yet tolerated red light district to the life of a working drone. A lot has changed after “New Moscow Underground”. The prison sector in Old Manhatten is now a practice area for tanks and cyborgs. The rebells haven been caught or killed. People are forced to do labor. Implants are developed to lock down personalities. Every worker is a drone. And yet…some people are still opposed to the sector government and the regime. But who knows what their motives are? The human beast is selfish.
This is as much of the story as I’m going to cover because you can have an amazing story and concept but if the music doesn’t flow correctly than I could give a shit less about your story. Thankfully Neon Insect pulls off the practical part of this assessment without too many flaws.
Of course Neon Insect wouldn’t be Neon Insect without a cinematic and patriotic march to begin off the album. ‘CRY OF VENGEANCE’ starts the album and sets the tone with distorted propaganda music and the thumps of what sounds like mech footsteps before a rampant heartbeat kicks in and it fades to fuzz. This leads directly into the first true song on the album ‘REWIRED’. Sludgy industrial electronics and glitch inspired noise plague the song through and through and it’s a dirty trudge through this environment. A very, very minor complaint I have about the song is that the vocals are a bit buried amidst the noise and it would’ve been nice to have them forward. Other than that this is a standout song on the album.
If you’re into classic immersive sims such as System Shock and classic EBM a la Front 242 then you’re going to fall in love with ‘IMPLANT’. A quick ride through cyberspace is the best way I can describe this track. Guest vocalist Sarah Franz appears on the glitchy industrial track that is ‘BRUTALISM’. And I love this song for everything that it does. Her voice is like a robots and the beats found within are heavy, experimental, noisy, and completely and unabashedly industrial.
Neon Insect also takes the time to give us cinematic breaks during that album in the form of short, experimental tracks such as HEART.MACHINE and SOUL.MACHINE which are easily deviated through the use of the . between words. These are fun bits of energy that don’t take up too much time but simply get to the point and move on as transition pieces.
The first half of the album is where the best tracks are stored while the latter half isn’t as juicy. The songs found here, those being LOVE SEX + ROBOTS, THERE IS BEAUTY IN THE NOISE, BYTEBLAST CAPSULE, and the title track are good but I do not believe they hit the heights the first half of the album does with ease. This isn’t to say that these should be knocked from your list forever and ever and that they should be skipped. But explore them at your own pace and see what you think; similar sounds, similar noise, still Neon Insect.
COLDBORN is one of the few songs on the album that I am not a huge fan of simply because Neon Insect attempts to sing coldly on the album. His voice isn’t terrible but it isn’t good either and is in definite need of some digital effects. Neon Insect’s guttural growls and heavy vox work well; his clean set? Not so much.
Still gonna give this album an eight though. Despite the minor complaints I’ve had with the album I’ve been able to chug through it from top to bottom time and time and time again with ease. And that’s a rarity for me to be able to sit through and album and enjoy a good chunk of it without wanting to switch to the next song. LIBERTY FLOWERS earns a well deserved 8 out of 10 and, as always, I’m looking forward to more from him in the future.
