This is a really strong album from German electro-industrial act The Retrosic. While the :wumpscut: influences are still somewhat apparent, the band has definitely come into their own with this release. The only problem is that they forget what type of band they are a few times here.

The majority of music offered here is dark electro-industrial with menacing electronic programming, heavy beats, moody melodies, creepy sampling and angry growling thick German accented male vocals. All of the songs that sound like this are great. It's too bad that they don't make up the entire album.

There are four songs here that are out of place - "Elysium", "Passion (1st Sign)", "Sphere" and "Tears In The Rain". "Elysium" is a Middle Eastern chant song that sounds like something Delerium would create. "Passion (1st Sign)" is dark and somber with female chanting. "Sphere" is a light and upbeat EBM instrumental. And "Tears In The Rain" is a short spoken word track. These four tracks really mess up the album. They ruin the flow and make me want to listen to the album less.

I think bands should stick to a certain style throughout their recordings. If they have a desire to do drastically different sounding music, they should do it on a side project.

PS.THIS REVIEW DOESN'T REPORT MY FEELING ABOUT THIS MASTERPIECE...I THINK THIS RECORD IS ONE OF THE BEST RELEASES OF 2004 IN THE DARK ELECTRO-INDUSTRIAL GENRE,MUCH BETTER THAN WUMPSCUT RECENT ALBUMS!
ANTICRHIST