Album Review - Among The Echoes, "Fracture"

Album Review:
Among The Echoes, "Fracture"

It’s been a while since I did a review, but from the moment I started listening to the latest album from Among The Echoes I knew I would have to break my hiatus. "Fracture" is one of the most addictive and all-consuming LPs I have heard for a long time.

From the outset, the album’s opener slinks around your head and into your ear before seeping down to the pit of your stomach and wrapping a gigantic invisible fist around your soul. At the first thunderous beat of the album’s title track, "Fracture", the fist lifts you up and slams you down into the core of the earthquake of dark beats and bass, crisp anthemic synths and blistering Bowie-eque vocals that exude a fantastic combination of power, fear, control, passion and acrimony.

The production is absolutely superb and is the icing on the cake to the fabulous electronic powerhouse driving the 13 tracks on the album. The album is definitely in my top 3 albums of this year so far and I highly recommend it, particularly for fans of dark and brooding electronica who, like me, look for music that has the ability to cut you off from the world and hold your attention completely from start to finish.

Absolutely outstanding!

Track Listing
Heartbeat (1:41)
Fracture (3:58)
Sin (3:34)
Medusa (5:15)
Hate (3:45)
Midnight (4:48)
Rain (4:01)
Control (4:26)
Heart Of A Machine (4:40)
Freak (4:20)
Pure (5:04)
24 (0:12)
13 (3:04)

SINGLE REVIEW - Among The Echoes, "Freak"

Birmingham band, Among The Echoes, have a unique style that manages to successfully fuse dark wave, synth pop, ambience and 80s electronica, the result of which has spawned tracks such as the intriguing earworm, "Freak". Whilst the song would not be out of place in a Depeche Mode set due the expert use of ethereal and swirling synths courtesy of Among The Echoes’ Steve Turrell, it is also reminiscent of the style of current indietronica band, M83, and reminds me in particular of M83’s fantastic track “Couleurs” from their “Saturdays=Youth” album.

With lead vocals from Rachael O’Hara and Ian Wall, who sound uncannily like Siouxsie Sioux and David Bowie respectively, and edgy bass from Phil Lockhart, “Freak” swirls moodily through dark verses to the stop-start of a softer interlude, before sweeping up into an anthemic chorus. Fans of dark wave electronica will not be disappointed – this an absolute gem that is likely to awaken an urge to dig through your music collection for similar 80s, dark wave and indietronica anthems.

To listen to "Freak" go to this link to Among The Echoes' Soundcloud page.

Among The Echoes will be headlining the Birmingham O2 Academy on 25th January, 2013. For more information on the band, gig dates and tracks visit the Among The Echoes website at www.amongtheechoes.co.uk or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/amongechoes.