Failure

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When looking through the liner of the album, you'll notice something along the lines of, "In loving memory of my father, who took his like Thursday, October 28th, 1999." Listening, you'll also find in many of the songs, from telltale traces of it laying in tunes hinting toward what Tom was thinking to the powerful, tear-provoking "Disappointment." Quite a few of the songs on here are like that, actually, but none are quite like this song because of the way it all pieces together. Sometimes I hear the lines, "though you are gone, I am still your son. And while your pain is over, mine has just begun," and I can't really compose my thoughts because its all so raw and a wound to be captured here. Other songs on the album worth listening to would be most of them, but I'd pool out "Naked," "Divide," "Silence," "Awake," and "King of Insects" as ones I'd tout.

"Naked" has a tempo that moves along fairly well at 125 BPM, has a nice sound within it, and I personally like the decree in it stating, "Nothing can touch me, I've nothing left to take, For I am naked but I can never break." "Divide" is also a fairly-driven song with a 126 BPM count and a beat I really enjoy when it gets to the chorus. I personally like what Tom did with his voice on this track, too, and I also like the lyrics as well because they're pretty solidly constructed. They may actually be one of the more challenging pieces as far as wording goes, and I like the pictures he manages to paint while forging it. "Silence" is a little more BPMed at 135 and it has a different style to it than the other songs on the album. Instead of sorrow or pain, it is a song done with a darker form of voxing on the voice and seething within the lyrics. It harbors hatred in those words, running through and through, and its done to a nice tempo change as well. "Awake," clocking in at 138 BPMs, is a song about confusion and being lost, and it captures so much emotion as it plays out. It's a sad and somber song and one that speaks with a voice lost both in "the now" and in "the past." And its that emotion powering it that makes it one that almost everyone can relate to from at least one time in their lives. "King of Insects," the lowest BPM count on the album at 70, is actually one of my favorite songs because of the way it is also constructed. Not only is the beat one that is basic and yet expressive but the wording is so full while it plays out. It's a song of a challenging nature, confrontational in its decree, and its nicely constructed on all levels.

As far as Assemblage 23 is concerned, the body of work speaks for itself. In the three albums released and the three Assemblage 23 songs uniquely found on Addendum (plus the version of And I Ran, which is catchy when covered by Assemblage 23, and in the production job he did for another band as well), there are so many things worth praising. The mastery of lyrics and the assembling of songs are merely motions in a changing sea, however, and there are sure to be more things to come. So, when buying, check them all out because it's all worth tasting.

The album focusses on Tom Shear's self-blame after his father ended his own life, and the dark, brooding feel of this continues throughout the whole album, even through the 'happier' (comparatively) tracks like "House On Fire". but when Tom pours out his emotions with such rawness and clarity, you cannot help but feel crushed.

The best tracks on the album are "House on Fire", exquisitely dance-able yet full of anger, "Divide", which is cinematically beautiful and remarably complex, and "Awake", with a long, dark feel to it and some utterly brilliant synths. However, the stand-out track, by far, is "Dissapoint". This in probably the most moody piece of electronica I have ever heard, and the lyrics are far more crushing than anything I have ever heard before, surpassing even the emotional power of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails.

If you have never heard EBM before, or are a Synthpop fan looking for something more 'hard' then this is a great album, although it is somewhat depressing. Still, it is VERY well constructed and a must-listen album. If you like Depeche Mode, VNV Nation, Icon of Coil, Velvet Acid Christ, or any techno act than you MUST get this.

• Styles > Alternative Rock > Alternative Styles
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