i najzad, jebeno najzad je u mom posedu nesumnjivo jedan od najboljih albuma godine.
Plain Fade
Lies, Sanctions and Cruise Missiles
Punos Sound
Art-Rock
I had no idea what to expect from what I initially believed to have been the debut EP from this Finnish act. Instead, I was greeted with the chilling sounds of what is indeed the debut full-length from this Finnish act: Six tracks in 43+ minutes, consisting largely of lush instrumental soundscapes and expansive experimental undercurrents fitting of the band's name. Hell, nine-minute opener "Weapons of Mass Destruction" is initially just a quiet lull of drones and swells behind light waves of cascading cymbals and faint guitars/keyboards for the bulk of its time. But look the fuck out, because five-and-a-half minutes in, everything explodes - quite literally - with full blown percussion, piano, distorted guitars, and samples. About a minute later things are finally fully fleshed out in terms of volume and density, as faint samples continue and cello even begins to seep into the mix alongside swells of organ. I mean, shit… this is just fucking epic, people. Epic. The second fucking track ("Blue Skies Ahead") even opens with harp! Harp!? Yes, harp! Real harp! Not a sample! Which is then joined by pulsing basslines and ringing, ethereal guitar textures… and vocals! But not just vocals. No, it's beautifully restrained singing that's placed deep in the mix and blends perfectly with the instrumentation. And as with the preceding track, distortion starts to swell in more than halfway through as the volume starts to increase and things build higher and higher on through to the close of the piece. After a three-minute "interlude" of sorts in "Chips Falling Where They May", the impeccable "Cerebellum" (another nine-minute epic) reaches a full level of operation almost immediately, and sort of sounds like what I can't help but call avant-garde indie rock with its brooding distorted chords and lush keys, not to mention a louder and more emphatically soaring vocal performance that really adds some emotional intensity. Countering the flow of the opening set, this one starts to sink back into a faint hum of clean chords and synths after nearly four minutes of playing time, slowly picking up as the drums join back in with bass and caustic yet controlled guitar textures that signal a frantic cavalcade complete with hectic drum fills. "Art Brut Machine" is another "interlude" of sorts, mainly made up of four minutes of piano that's occasionally joined at varying instances by cello, guitar, and vocals; before the 11-minute title track begins its run with an almost 70's prog rock sounding introduction (admittedly hinging on the keyboard patches employed) that quickly rises into a thick wall of power chords and feedback noise with bashing percussion. The thundering drums continue as guitars surrender to cello and basslines that lock in with the gradually fading beats. Eventually everything fades away, practically starting anew with sparsely strummed chords and humming instrumentation midway through - that is, until another borderline shocking detonation takes place and cuts loose maniacal drum fills and loud dynamics. Like the first track, this burst quickly settles down, though this time it never returns, instead slowly drawing to an almost unnoticeable end that's very carefully manipulated. Nice. The overall recording is excellent here, too. Everything is bright and natural with a clear mix that manages to maintain a sense of crisp detail while drawing everything together in a cohesive manner that keeps things sounding lush and full. My only suggestion would be that the distortion could maybe use a little more of a kick to it. I don't have any complaints here, they've done a superb job, but the distortion could still get a little thicker and meatier without becoming too heavy or oppressive, and I think that would help add a hint more contrast to the compositions. The packaging also looks quite nice, using a high gloss coat and a consistent appearance across the board, with nice photography and minimal uses of text. The lyrics are quite succinct (though it seems that not all of the content is included) and cover both some of the vocal lines as well as the content of many of the samples used (mainly in the opening selection), initially coming across as a stark socio-political commentary on the state of the world before reverting to a more artistic sense of openness for the remainder of the disc: "Sell your soul in a glimpse of disquiet. So tear your heart out and drag it out into daylight. I know I will just plain fade." The verdict? This band rules. I'm pretty god damn impressed by this on all levels, and I'll be both surprised and disappointed if these folks aren't granted an increasingly large amount more attention as this record starts to find its way out there a little more. I can't say that the general scope of this band's approach is all that uncommon these days, there actually seem to be more and more such artists popping up lately. However, that fact in no way discredits the masterful artistry that Plain Fade exhibits on this album, and I'd easily rank this band among the best I've encountered in this particular realm. Absolutely look into this one. Great, great work.
