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Message: <blockquote data-quote="depth" data-source="post: 30884" data-attributes="member: 415">My track-by-track review:[SPOILER="words words words"]01: Mindsteep. Features a desolate miasma of distorted pads and a vague progression based on the number of noise samples in the background. A fair intro, but not great music.02: Step-Stray-Struggle. The calming pad sweeps and modest percussion line set the stage for a mellow yet energetic track.  Despite its tempo, this track gives me a very vaporwave feel, with the crystalline supporting rhythms making me think of the beeps of beige desktops and modems hard at work.03: Warp-Wet-Woods. One of the more memorable tracks from this album to me. Grating tribal rhythms backed by warbling vocals and an indecisive guitar line give way to the perfect groove for a summer evening. I would probably revisit this on occasion.04: Float-Flora-Flow. Four uninterrupted minutes of a neurotic leading pad and muted drum line doing their thing. One thing I'll say is that the backing piano in the first half conveys a sense of longing and nostalgia, mentally transporting me to a snowed-out city in Japan or something.05: Hallucinator. I enjoyed the peppy, industrial-sounding breaks in the intro, but that's pretty much it. The rest of the song is just kinda noisy and unfocused, exacerbated by a lack of variation within each idea. I can't say I like it much. 06 - 09: Four tracks that more or less present the same ideas: pop samples delivered systematically to the ear by booming drums interspersed by walls of dissonance. However, the slow guitar segment in Lose You isn't too bad, while I Loom has the feeling of exiting a concert and driving into the cold night.10: No Escape. A decidedly upbeat veer away from the overbearing noise of the previous tracks. Not particularly memorable, but it managed to recapture my attention and I did rock out to it a little.11: In W-Coloured Haze. Another palate cleanse, this time a return to the atmospheric noise motif introduced in Mindsteep. Not a track I'd relisten to.12: Freeze Love II. A hypnotic track that's actually pleasing to the ear. The classic rock-sounding sample in the beginning and end of the track sustains a relaxing emotional connection, with the moe vocal section in the middle providing a moderate amount of variation. I particularly liked the 1/16(?) kick roll breaks toward the beginning, as it highlighted the most melodic parts of the sample.13: Desertman. The only interesting parts are in the beginning and the end. An opening salvo of speedcore-like drums greets the listener. The track then bogs down in another experimental mudpie until the tempo picks back up, though the second thrash isn't nearly as energetic as the first. After some more mud, the track closes with an atmospheric downtempo segment that does make me feel like a 'desertman.'14: Teleport-Queen. A headbangable pop track that dragged me out of Desertman's mud. The auxiliary male voice samples fill the track nicely and pave the way for the star of the show: the female hook. Intermittent noise and distortion prevents the track from being excessively same-y while still keeping focus.15: Clouds. An amazingly stark departure from the entire rest of the album. Hopeful chords and chipper synths in the beginning serve as a recurring motif, separated by a long section of bouncy basses and delicate vocals, finishing with a drum-focused segment. Finally, the best part of the song begins: a floating jungle groove adorned by backing guitars and soaring pads reminiscent of Ape Escape music. This is the highlight of the album.16: Kai-Koh. Aggressive rhythms provide a gripping introduction to the track, but they're unfortunately the few interesting elements of it. I found myself waiting out the noise walls and droning vocals in anticipation of the intro rhythms returning. If nothing else, it's a fitting summary of both the best and worst qualities of this album.Final rating: 5/10[/SPOILER]</blockquote>

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