cleveland is a city, which is known for many different reasons.
whether it be the acclaim of its newest child, the rock n' roll hall of fame or
the new success of the cleveland indians or things like being the spawning
ground for everyone's favorite hate monger, trent reznor and his lackies, those
nine inch nails. one thing cleveland is not known for, though, is its newly
burgeoning local music scene. there are many bands in the area, whose styles
range from metal to hardcore to rap to pop, etc... one band, which will be
heard from soon is the two-member duo known as silicon soul. the band is made
jim lenhart (vocals/guitar/programming/arrangements) and rob ortenzi(guitars/
vocals/programming/arrangements). their success is not even that well known in
cleveland, but there is a strong current of fans, who are joining onto the
silicon soul wave into the 90's technological megaplex. with their enchanting
hymns, characterized by destructive sampling and drum effects and methodically
corrosive guitars, they carry a world of disjointed images and broken voices
into a new, unchartered territory, where they are their own rulers and
monarchs.
they have not played around the area of cleveland a lot, but their
sound can be sonicly heard in their first release, 'betrayed'. although, it is
only a single and on cassette, their sound and creativity can be heard
throughout the two songs that appear on this cassette.
the cover is an interesting collage of light blue rectangular squares,
that are discolored by light greens, yellows and other rusty, decayed colors,
with large encrusted black lines, dividing each territory into its own. the
first song, "betrayed" is an interesting collage of sampling effects, loud
bass drums beats, synthetically enhanced guitar effects, and shifting vocal
stylings from quiet to dissonant. the song is a dancey song, which is further
augmented by their lyrics. the song ends with an echoing static effect with
melodic singing and the loud bass beats lacing the background, in support.
the second song is a cover of "blue to
black" which sounds very electronically and metallicly enhanced. it
switches between a club dancey, solemn, guitar-less segment in many of the
verse areas to a guitar augmented, echo-yelling, harder edged segment. in the
end, most of it becomes, more electro-metally produced, till in the end, the
song ends with a guitar key, left in echo.
the listener is further given more for his/her money when the group
remixes the first song to give you "betrayed(plague mix)" . the song is
different in that the introduction is a little bit longer and its seems as
though the band has strengthened the beats and sampling sounds. at the end of
the song, it pauses and then begins and ending sequence, capped off by their
loud beats and impressive sampling effects.
this is a great cassette and the only downside is that its only three
songs. at least they repeat the program on both sides, so that its easy to
switch sides, instead of rewinding.
since this cassette, they have played around cleveland many times.
most of these times as supporting acts. they have played with the local gothic
band, lestat, the national, heavy techno dance group, kmfdm, many local
showcases even a free concert for their true fans.
they have been steadily at work on a new album or ep, which is
supposedly entitled, 'godless'. i have an early promo of it in here.
the cassette opens with the exhaust sounds of "blind boy". it is quickly
impulsed by the searing sound of techno samples and heavy dance beats. jim's
voice comes out loud and clear. the pre-chorus and chorus are punctured by the
mechanically, synthetic guitar effect as jim layers his voice onto top of
everything. the guitars are merely added to the background along with
aforementioned effects, as the vocals repeatedly attack the listener's thoughts.
"betrayed", from their previous release, makes its appearance after.
"godless" the possible title track, makes its appearance. with its
ominous piano and exhaust samples along with frantic church-oriented samples
in the beginning, it is heightened to a climax, where the crushing
synth-guitars and blasting drums roar into prominence, only to be cast out into
the shadows, like an evil demon. the piano and exhaust samples retake control
and eventually fade into "blue to black" , from the 'betrayed' single. at its
closure, the shadowy samples return and lead into the much quieter sounding
"pain covered with skin." orchestrated samples and much slower drums beats lay
the foundation, upon which the lyrics add to its intensity. the chorus area is
further augmented by shredding guitar sounds and additional dark lyrics. it
ends with the echoing aerial-like samples.
"share my disease" begins with a reverbing guitar effect, which is
quickly enhanced by loud bass and drum beats. a calm, distorted voice creeps
in. an echoing guitar enters and blasts the listener along with mind-boggling,
smashing lyrics. the chorus is a loud, cacophony of the previously mentioned
elements, added by screaming vocals. the chorus repeats four times, with more
painful lyrics before the final chorus.
"away" begins slow, with grinding steel sounds and crunchy guitars,
which meld into a soft beat sound and highly distorted, low-amplified guitar
sound, with jim' solemn voice layered on top of it. the chorus opens up with a
louder sound and more of the life loving lyrics. the song repeats in the same
fashion till the end, when the song is quickened with harsher vocals. the last
song,"blind boy(sclerotic)" is about the same as the original, but some
segments are moved around, the make it sound a little different. the only
difference is that it ends the same way it began: with the exhaust sounds
fading out.
this is a good release, if they decide to release it because it
contains more material, than the other release. their propensity to create
these intoxicating catherses is mind-blowing, inconceivable to mortal human
beings and entirely explosive. their sound is very captivating and alluring,
with its mechanical plastered sound, their penetrating samples, and the
intensity of their vocals and lyrics.
to contact silicon soul - silicon soul
experience more aural extascy
show that you were here,
or
what everyone else is raving about.
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