phantom west : aleph null

Coming from Sistinas and CrunchPod 02.13.07
If there is one thing that one can rely on when it comes to Phantom West, it has to be the fact that nothing he does can be predictable. This became evident when The Rain Expedition EP was released. The title track was nothing like the complex instrumentals from his first release, Chimaera, which was cinematic and dystopian in it's musical execution. The Rain Expedition showed a softer and more melodic aspect while still retaining the cinematic aspect that has become a trademark of the Phantom West sound.

Aleph Null, the second full length release by Phantom West, pushes the genre boundaries once again. Just when we think what his sound is like, Phantom West surprises us with an eclectic collection of tracks that span all across the spectrum of our ever-changing musical mood. Aleph Null opens up with the tracks Ghosts on the Road and One More Time. Both tracks are very melodic and full of complex instrumentation, while electronic bits go off all around them. Singularity, the third track, takes us even further down the electronic path with beats and samples that bring to mind classic second wave industrial.

Aleph Null continues with the already classic The Rain Expedition and the cinematic instrumental Aurora, which serves as a lead into the ambitious opus Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi evokes thoughts of classic "a different drum" styled synthpop, but with a darker feel and cryptic lyrics. Phantom West takes the synthpop cue one step further by covering an obscure New Order track, Doubts Even Here. The track first appeared as a producer's pick on Community, the New Order supervised and sponsored tribute album.

Just when we get comfortable within the synth world Phantom West created with the previous two tracks, Anathema and Autochroma wake us up with their gloomy drumbeats and distorted instrumentation which brings to mind the work of artists such as Maynard James Keenan. Construct of Elysium, a fourteen minutes opus and Valles Marineris clear up the storm of the previous two tracks and prepare us for exiting track, Obsidian, which winds Aleph Null down with a mellow downtempo trip.

For more info on Phantom West visit: PhantomWest.com
or Phantom West on MySpace: MySpace.com/PhantomWest