Monomer - Labyrinth


(Telefuture 2014)

It is still classics week here at Synthwave Reviews, and today I have one for you from dearly-departed scene label Telefuture. This one reminds me of a direction synthwave could have taken, but chose not to.



Labyrinth is essentially a mashup of synthwave and chiptunes. It features many of the core elements of synthwave, like analog synthesizer arpeggios and electronic tom fills, but with 8/16-bit melodies. So a bit like if your mate brought his Soundblaster 16 over to a studio session.

The result is extremely creative and very retro. I really enjoyed moments like when the chip sounds work as harmony for guitar, like on "Arcana Engine." There is also a very prog metal sensibility to the album, which both anticipates the metal turn in synthwave and also feels like a strong contrast to it. It's metal influenced, just not in the way you are used to hearing. On an ideas level, Labyrinth is very smart and highly original.

I have two issues with it, though. The first one is that the mix is too thick in the low frequencies, to the point where it sometimes feel like the notes are competing with each other for space. The second one is that, while I really like the prog metal feel of the album, sometimes it gets a bit much, like Monomer has too many good ideas and can't decide which ones to keep and which ones to edit out. Even still, as a discovery or rediscovery, Labyrinth is well worth your time.

Score: 8.0

Comments

Popular Posts