REVIEWS

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Aesthetic Perfection
A Violent Emotion

Bractune Records / Out of Line

Posted: Sunday, November 09, 2008
By: Denyss McKnight

It seems as though Daniel Graves has uncovered even more rage on the streets of Berlin after his relocation a few years ago. With his well crafted take on modern industrial, the creator of Aesthetic Perfection gives us A Violent Emotion and holds true to his word in delivering a visceral and unrelenting masterpiece. After a luscious soundscape to open the album, he grabs you with "Spit It Out" and doesn't let go. He gives you the venom of Combichrist and the precision of Front Line Assembly while administering fantastic synth lines and symphonic arrangements overtop of classic hard-hitting electronic dance beats. "The Siren" comes out of nowhere with a heavy club beat and a hook that will make this a favorite on any dance floor while displaying Mr. Graves' versatility as a vocalist. Low, gravelly and sultry, he manages to slide up under your skin and make you uncomfortable, a nice change from his usual blistering scream attack. He further develops this mood with "A Quiet Anthem" and pulls out a crawl that made this writer feel that same violent pleasure that Nine Inch Nails' "Reptile" did. We hear a lot of familiar territory throughout the album until the final track, "The Ones," where he demonstrates his ability to take it down a notch and put more feel and groove into his work. His use of sonic elements is more than impressive as are his arrangements. His lexicon of sounds serves as a testimony to his own vision and idea of where a song should go and his technical prowess amplifies his concepts. However, the songs are a little too long to be as effective as they should have been, and lyrically it just doesn't grab as hard as one would hope. Beyond that, from start to finish, this was utterly satisfying and will definitely be put this onto many play lists time and time again.