M Slagle – The Endangered Consciousness (CD Album – Spent Decibel)
Genre/Influences: Dark-electro.
Background/Info: Matt Slagle is an American artist who has been involved with numerous- and very different music projects. I personally remember Theologian, Side3 and Navicon Torture Technologies, but he has also been active in Negativehate, Diathoron, Sullen Rail, Thevetat and Dracaris. M Slagle was mainly active in between 2000 and 2011 and is now back on track unleashing a new album.
Content: It’s not an easy thing to define the sound of M Slagle, but there are explicit dark-electronic influences running through the production. It’s a raw and unpolished production, which seems to have found its main inspiration in the 90s electro scene. The complexity reminds me a bit of Mentallo & The Fixer. The harsh vocals create a perfect match with the music. One of the most surprising cuts is the cover version of Marianne Faithfull’s “Love Hates”, which also appears to be one of the most accessible cuts.
+ + + : I like the darkness hanging over this production, which is mainly characterized by a hostile atmosphere. Sound-wise M Slagle clearly avoids all kinds of cheap clichés, but tries to create a personal sound. It’s more the kind of album you’re going like for its dark mood instead of hard-danceable hard-electronic music. The cover version of Marianne Faithfull is quite successful, but I also have to mention “Moving Without”, the instrumental “Drained” and “Everything Else”.
– – – : It all sounds like the raw and unpolished production was intentional and in a way reinforce the retro-feeling of the work, but I think the mix could have been a little bit more professional.
Conclusion: M Slagle is a discovery for me. I can’t remember to have heard this project before, but I’m sure I now will keep it in mind.
Best songs: “Moving Without”, “Drained”, “Love Hates”, “Everything Else”.
Rate: (7½).
Artist: www.mslagle.com / www.facebook.com/M–Slagle-212379318840422
Label: www.spentdecibel.com
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