Public Domain Resource - Dead Surface

What we have here is a blend between synth pop and EBM from an Italian duo that calls themselves Public Domain Resource. Their debut album is what I bring to you, under the name of Dead Surface. And, well, it's a decent album, but it's nowhere near fantastic.

The vocals present in all of the songs have some sort of digital effect at all times. Whether it's in songs such as Nemesis - The Third Day, where it sounds like a robot is doing a sing along, to The Second Day, where we are given more human like, and somber, vocals, the effects are always present. This doesn't always work, however, to cover up what I would consider to be an average set of chords at most. Red Lines is a song that I really just can't listen to more than once, for I find the vocals to be pretty bad.

However, the beats behind the songs are usually pretty good. Again, I would like to go back to Nemesis - The Third Day. This is a very moving song, almost reminding me of a track that would represent a cyberpunk society extremely well. The beats are decently paced with the synths constantly pitching and moving with the vocals.

However, in songs such as The Second Day, I find the beat to not really match the quality that was presented in other sections of the album. It's an alright song, and the vocals are nice, but altogether, the beat just seems to be sitting on the back burner, and just seems too low to compensate with the rest of the song.

There are three remixes on the album as well. TourdeForce did a great job remixing Red Lines, revamping the beat to make it harder, and sparingly using the vocals. Even then, an echo effect was placed on them to kinda make them flow better.

Retrogramme did a pretty good job with their remix of Under The Ground. The beat was taken back a bit, as their style is, and there is an emphasis on guitar work within the remix. The final remix comes from Magnetic Fields, who remixed Mishima San. They took the song and made it a fast paced pop song, putting pleasure in shifting the song into a much more catchy tune filled with a lot of synths.

And that concludes the album. And also the review. I don't want to put down this duo at all, for they have the talent to make something of themselves, however, they need to make something more solid and consistent, and work on improving areas where they're flawed. Jan 10 2014