Artist: PendulumAlbum: ImmersionGenre: Electronic rock/mainstream Drum and Bass (and more)Year: 2010Tracklist:1. "Genesis" 1:09
2. "Salt in the Wounds" 6:39
3. "Watercolour" 5:04
4. "Set Me On Fire" 5:02
5. "Crush" 4:13
6. "Under the Waves" 4:55
7. "Immunize" (feat. Liam Howlett) 4:36
8. "The Island - Pt. I (Dawn)" 5:20
9. "The Island - Pt. II (Dusk)" 4:09
10. "Comprachicos" 2:48
11. "The Vulture" 4:03
12. "Witchcraft" 4:12
13. "Self vs Self" (feat. In Flames) 4:45
14. "The Fountain" (feat. Steven Wilson) 5:00
15. "Encoder" 5:22
Australian band
Pendulum started out as a pure DnB-act, but with their last album "
In Silico" (released in 2008), they changed their style to more electronic-rock, and reached mainstream-success.
This is their third album overall since the debut "
Hold Your Colour" in 2005.
I've been waiting for this album ever since i first heard about it, and those expectations grew even more when i heard that
Steven Wilson (my personal god) would collaborate with
Pendulum on a track.
The album opens with a intro, entitled "
Genesis", which sounds like an intro to a modern space-movie.
Very cool overall, doesn't sound remotely similar to the other intro's
Pendulum has used before.
The album continues with "
Salt in the Wounds", which has that sound we're familiar with.
I wasn't a HUGE fan of "
Showdown" (which was the opener on In Silico), so this song was a positive surprise.
Next comes the first single from the album, "
Watercolour" which is a very solid track.
It has grown lots since i first heard it, and it's a very catchy electronic-rock song.
I must have played it 20-25 times now, but its still growing.
The album has 3-collaboration songs, first one is "
Immunize" which features
Liam Howlett (The Prodigy).
It's one of the songs that stood out right from the first listen, and it's a great uptempo-song, which will blow your speakers.
Then comes, what i think is the 'main-song' on the album, a 2-part divided song called "
The Island".
Being a prog-fan, i just love it when there's a main-song divided into 2-3 parts, it really adds a certain "epic"-feeling to it.
One example that came to my mind, was
Porcupine Tree and
Waiting. (which is divided into 2 phases as well).
Waiting and
The Island share a certain similarity, part1 is more 'traditional', catchy and sing-along friendly, meanwhile part2 is very experimental and instrumental-based.
Part 1 is called "Dawn", and it's
Pendulum's attempt on making a catchy house-song.
I think they pull it off great, it's very catchy, and a fantastic song.
Part 2 is called "Dusk" and features some insane/cool instrumental-parts, and together they form 9 ½ minutes of awesomeness.
"
The Vulture" sounds very
The Prodigy-influenced, and "
Witchcraft" is a great catchy song. (brings back thoughts to
Propane Nightmares)
Then we have the other 2 collaborations, "
Self vs Self" which features
In Flames, and "
The Fountain" which features
Steven Wilson.
They're both very cool, because of the different approaches, but personally i'd say "
The Fountain" is one of the best songs on the album.
Everything SW touches just seems to turn into gold.
The album closes with "
Encoder".
My overall thoughts on this album are very positive, many fans of the band meant that they sold out with their last album, but i think this album manages to take the good things from the first album, the good things from the second album, and new stuff.
The result is superb, and i think this album is their best, because it features lots of variety.
Out of the songs on this album, you can find the several genres:
Drum and Bass, Electronica, Rock, Metal, House, Dubstep, also there's several parts that sounds like 8bit music from Sega/N64, "
The Fountain" and "
Set me on Fire" most noticeable.
Overall its one of the better albums i've heard in a long time, but i don't think i will rate it higher then
Anathema at the end of the year.
Still, i give this album
Points: 4.5/5Highlights: The Fountain, Encoder & The Island (both parts)Reviewed by: Jimmy O. (Zantera)