The Omega Syndicate
Baptism of Wire
CDR (Ltd edition of 100 copies) / 4 tracks / 65.50 mins
Play Sample:   56K Dialup   Broadband
Download Sample:   500K   1.5Mb
(Excerpt from track(s) 'Fuse')
As with their other Limited Edition CDs this album of all new music is bound to sell out fast. As I write half have gone already. Tron chords provide a lush beginning to 'Control Freak'. As expected it doesn't take long before a sequence makes an entrance, and quite a melodic one it is too - high register but fairly rapid. Dark ominous fizzing drones add to the build up. The sequence morphs beautifully, gaining power all the time. Those drones also increase in intensity, coming and going in waves, almost like a warning siren. A bass line gives proceedings even greater oomph. It's like being in the middle of a storm, devastation going on all around but somehow being protected from the external forces. Unbelievably the track just keeps building and building becoming more bass heavy as we go, the floor shaking in response. What an awesome opener!

'Secrets in the Sand' has an appropriately mysterious Eastern sounding melody over more soft mellotron. Exciting rapid pulsations come in waves carrying the track forward, providing its backbone until more strident leads arrive in the seventh minute. 'Haunted' starts, as expected with rather eerie sounds but it is only a few seconds before the sequence emerges. It is initially relatively sedate, quite melodic and absolutely fantastic, weaving the most captivating of spells. Big slabs of bass sound with loads of reverb add to the tension. Spectres fly amongst the pulsations. There is subtlety here as well with every sound beautifully placed. Take anything away and it would be to the detriment and yet every time a new element is added it enhances the whole wonderfully. A sedate melody floats in the middle of the mix. Other aggressive stabbing melodies come and go. The pace really quickens in the ninth minute, the spectres return and a purposeful rhythm augments the sequence. In the twelfth minute the most awesome of melodies is introduced which transcends an already fantastic track to one of the bands very finest if not THE finest.

'Fuse' gets straight into a sequence and electric guitar combination. A further bass sequence comes in as the guitar gives it some oomph. All then seems to wind down a little as organ joins proceedings before things take off again, the sequences leading the way. Don't hang around on this one; it won't be available for long. (DL)

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