Published by Alessandro Violante on January 15, 2017
Imagine an “Electronic Brain” (English translation for Cervello Elettronico) as a sort of digital web in which several synapses are connected. Logical Fears is the title of the new David Christian album, where several sounds and genres constantly dialogue. The result is a solid beat-driven record in which techno and rhythmic industrial coexist.
If we think about his past albums, Cervello Elettronico progressively began writing music strongly influenced by techno, and undoubtedly this one goes straight to the point, sacrificing the embellishments and the ambient sounds of his previous album Anima Meccanica released by Hands Productions as well, presenting eleven engaging industrial ballets.
The main difference between these two albums can be found in the song-structure. While in Anima Meccanica most of its songs were the result of a process of progressively added layers, Logical Fears makes the opposite, going back to the primary elements of the rhythm, making it the main element of each song. Introductions aren’t necessary anymore in songs such as Tone Deaf, with its strong four on the floor rhythm and techno industrial with a slight IDM touch and atmospheric sounds in the second half of the song. The titletrack is a good mixture of a techno-derived tempo put in the right place inside a minimal rhythmic industrial rhythm, having the role of giving a blast to the song. The aforementioned Tone deaf has a classic syncopated rhythm with a fast tempo, and the same can be said for Black Matter, a minimal techno ride dirtied by industrial-like dry beats.
Stand your ground evokes his previous album, focusing on syncopated tribal beats, spacey atmospheres and sampling. A classic rhythmic industrial episode slightly influenced by old school electro industrial. The other songs, except for the techno ride of Spacial Differences, have a mid tempo where the aforementioned elements are well-combined, giving us well made danceable songs.
With Logical Fears, Cervello Elettronico marks another important step in the evolution of his sound, coming closer to pure techno music with distorted beats, also encouraged by the techno industrial comeback we’re currently experiencing, a sound more focused on the live dimension, as shown in his recent Maschinenfest 2k16 performance in October.
Label: Hands Productions
Rating: 8