Cleopatra 2017
Techromancy
Shine on brightly! Industrial rock pioneers weld mirrors onto their wrecking ball and get in the groove.
Four decades of noise exploration haven’t dulled this Frisco band’s edge, yet the cinematic approach they’d adopted with “Alien Soundtracks” in 1977, acquired some gloss in recent years, and a silver paper jacket housing “Techromancy” is as good a testament to the group’s progress as its sonic picture. Clocking in under 40 minutes, the album reflects Helios Creed’s spaced-out outlook of our world, the titular portmanteau fusing mechanical motion, human emotion and dark magic in the same way the record’s dozen pieces do, while the presence of the ensemble’s name in the title is a manifestation of their individuality.
It might end with “Just For You” which will coldly address the veterans’ lyrical slant, but the relentless, if hysterically unhurried, clang of opener “Administer The Treatment” is offering shock therapy for the fainthearted before the beats that drive “Death Is A Pusher” pinpoint the motive for many a man’s deed. Motorik rhythm and riffs of “Black Diamond” take the flow to the edge of time, with ghosts of rock ‘n’ roll guesting in the guitar-shaped shadow, and there’s escapism in “The Mandela Effect Pedal” and its extraterrestrial chant, whereas “The Other Side” rides a cosmic twang ‘n’ squeal to signal an unmistakably down-to-earth delights.
Here’s a hellish sheen on these cuts, yet one shouldn’t be blinded by this light: it’s there to show seekers a way.
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