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REVIEWS
Buy this album from iTunes
Pray Vote Donate Buy
Prayer (Stand Up)
Adrenaline (feat. Frank M. Spinath)
Big Imaginary Friend
Storm (feat. Frank M. Spinath)
Nu Speak
Ten Years
Anger (feat. SMP)
When I Come to Fall
Prayer (Kneel Down)
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REVIEWS
Diskonnekted
Old School Policies
Alfa Matrix
Posted: Tuesday, September 30, 2008
By: Trubie Turner
By: Trubie Turner
A straightforward but impressive showcase of merging styles accentuated by excellent guest appearances.
The third album from Belgian electro act Diskonnekted, Old School Policies is a sometimes mellow, sometimes aggressive, and always highly danceable aural treat. Though composition-wise, Diskonnekted doesn't necessarily break any new ground, they successfully blend several somewhat familiar styles to give an overall old school dark electro industrial feel though with good EBM sensibility.
Obviously having a bone to pick with religious fundamentalism, much of the album's inspiration seems to be drawn from this anger and leads to several really well done tracks. The album's leadoff track, "Pray Vote Donate Buy" is a cleverly put together high energy instrumental track containing the repeated and intentionally droning sample reading off the song's title as if to highlight the unwavering zombie-like mind of the perceived zealots. This anti-religion inspiration translates to an excellent track once again with the richly layered and very smooth "Big Imaginary Friend" that features Jan Dewulf's best meshing of his vocals with his music, resulting in a wonderfully symbiotic sound. On occasion however, some tracks can blend together and show some weakness in the composition. This is most obvious in between "Nu Speak" and "10 Years" where it seems like there is just a mild tempo increase, but much feels very much the same.
A great asset to the album is the three tracks with guest vocalists. The first two guest vocal tracks feature Seabound's Frank Spinath. Though in his first appearance on "Adrenaline," Spinath is used more in a backing vocal capacity, this high energy rhythmic and driving track does benefit from Spinath's subtle contribution, breaking up any potential monotony from the track and giving it a bit more punch. Spinath's contribution is much less subtle in the mellower track "Storm," making it almost a duet with Dewulf's gruff and gravely vocals playing off of Spinath's in excellent fashion. The final guest vocalist track is "Anger," featuring SMP's Jason Bazinet, and is not only a great reminder of why SMP will be greatly missed, but really showcases Dewulf's ability to go slightly outside his boundaries and produce a song that is very much Diskonnekted, but has a subtle hip-hop industrial and slightly Prodigy-esque vibe that make it fit exceptionally well with Bazinet's rapping style.
Though many will find a bit of familiarity in Old School Policies, Diskonnekted presents the kind of familiarity that does not breed contempt for unoriginality, but instead brings a bit comfort and peace. With tracks that are excellent for both cutting loose on the dance floor and relaxing in the living room, Old School Policies will appeal to a wide variety of audiences and has something to offer no matter what sort of mood you are in.
Obviously having a bone to pick with religious fundamentalism, much of the album's inspiration seems to be drawn from this anger and leads to several really well done tracks. The album's leadoff track, "Pray Vote Donate Buy" is a cleverly put together high energy instrumental track containing the repeated and intentionally droning sample reading off the song's title as if to highlight the unwavering zombie-like mind of the perceived zealots. This anti-religion inspiration translates to an excellent track once again with the richly layered and very smooth "Big Imaginary Friend" that features Jan Dewulf's best meshing of his vocals with his music, resulting in a wonderfully symbiotic sound. On occasion however, some tracks can blend together and show some weakness in the composition. This is most obvious in between "Nu Speak" and "10 Years" where it seems like there is just a mild tempo increase, but much feels very much the same.
A great asset to the album is the three tracks with guest vocalists. The first two guest vocal tracks feature Seabound's Frank Spinath. Though in his first appearance on "Adrenaline," Spinath is used more in a backing vocal capacity, this high energy rhythmic and driving track does benefit from Spinath's subtle contribution, breaking up any potential monotony from the track and giving it a bit more punch. Spinath's contribution is much less subtle in the mellower track "Storm," making it almost a duet with Dewulf's gruff and gravely vocals playing off of Spinath's in excellent fashion. The final guest vocalist track is "Anger," featuring SMP's Jason Bazinet, and is not only a great reminder of why SMP will be greatly missed, but really showcases Dewulf's ability to go slightly outside his boundaries and produce a song that is very much Diskonnekted, but has a subtle hip-hop industrial and slightly Prodigy-esque vibe that make it fit exceptionally well with Bazinet's rapping style.
Though many will find a bit of familiarity in Old School Policies, Diskonnekted presents the kind of familiarity that does not breed contempt for unoriginality, but instead brings a bit comfort and peace. With tracks that are excellent for both cutting loose on the dance floor and relaxing in the living room, Old School Policies will appeal to a wide variety of audiences and has something to offer no matter what sort of mood you are in.
