The Algorithm – Data Renaissance
FiXT
Release Date: 03/06/22
Running Time: 40:49
Review by Dark Juan
9/10
It appears I have been gripped by some kind of disease of which a side effect is writing. At the moment I can’t fucking stop. Every minute I am not writing is a minute wasted. Mrs Dark Juan is being cruelly neglected whilst I listen to everything new I can get my hands on and then I’ll write about it. I am compelled… absolutely compelled. The Dread Lord Igor Egbert Bryan Clown-Shoe Cleavage-Hoover hasn’t had his nightly Fight Club in over a week, such is my desire to write. Igor gets lairy when he doesn’t have Fight Club. I’ll tell you, for a French Bulldog, being a breed which is supposed to be sociable and gentle and goofy, Igor is a dangerous and wily psychopath. Take Hodgson Biological-Warfare for example. Hodgson is a dog that has torn holes in Dark Juan. Hodgson would reduce a human trying to harm Mrs Dark Juan to their component parts in mere seconds, and thinks nothing of having a bash at dogs three times his size, including on one memorable occasion in a river when he attacked a German Shepherd peaceably swimming in it, nearly drowning himself in the process, because Hodgson can’t actually swim, leaving it to me to rescue the dozy fuckmuffin. Igor, being a third the size and weight of this dangerously unstable protector of Mrs Dark Juan (I daren’t go near her) for some reason has managed to convince the violent nutjob of the family that he is in fact the boss and has trained Hodgson to incessantly wash him. And give him something that equates perilously closely to blow jobs. Igor tolerates NO dissent. Igor will attack Hodgson if Hodgson goes anywhere near his (Igor’s) food and for some reason Hodgson accepts this without issue or complaint from the tiny dog führer, even though Hodgson could comfortably swallow Igor without the aid of a glass of water. I have no idea why this happens.
Oh, well, let us away. Away to France, where Dark Juan had a home until recently. Dark Juan was not deported because of a small incident with the daughter of a local farmer, a wild boar, the altar of the village church, Satanic trappings and Twin Temple and Coven on repeat on the church PA. Oh no. That would have been bad. And very unchristian. We are away to France so I can tell you about the gentleman from that august nation named The Algorithm. Unlike, say, Master Boot Record, where Victor Love basically identified as an IBM 486 processor for several years, I can say with mucho accuracy that The Algorithm is a gentleman named Rémi Gallego and to say that Dark Juan likes his music is like saying that Dark Juan likes beer and defiling young Christians. The Algorithm tickles Dark Juan in many special places because he plays the kind of metal-infused synthwave that makes Dark Juan weep for joy. And starts the sex wee tanks filling quickly…
A harsh metallic undercurrent of punishing rhythms and serrated, spiny guitars underpins the kind of glorious 80s, Neo-Miami neon-drenched synths that make vaporwave and outrun such notable genres of synthwave. Where The Algorithm differs from contemporaries such as Carpenter Brut, Pertubator, Gunship and Scandroid though is that he is not afraid to chop and change and cut up the grooves in favour of sometimes creating a mesmerising, dangerous, lethal hybrid of metal, industrial and synthwave. “Object Resurrection” perfectly illustrates this – having an uncompromising industrial backbeat underneath riffs that are mightily chunky, and the swirling, smoke-like synth lines waver and change shape until they are chopped into unrecognisable shapes. “Multithreading” reminds this correspondent very much of “Bucephalus’ Bouncing Ball” from Aphex Twin’s seminal “Come To Daddy” EP, being choppy, uncomfortable and repeating blippy patterns until the guitars come in and slam your poor body clear against the nearest wall, leaving cranial fluid leaking from your nose and your brain wondering why it feels like it has just done twelve rounds with Mike Tyson. So, we can safely add a bit of classic futurist drum and bass to the influences at work here. This is a Very Good Thing.
In fact, I’d describe The Algorithm as a less insane Master Boot Record, crossed with some Epoch Of Chirality. This music is not pure synthwave as per the likes of stalwarts Gunship, where the synthesiser rules over all, and the vibe is a darkworld equivalent of the Strip in Miami or Vegas, where the neon is bright and the people happy and colourful although there’s murder and vampires and a seedy underbelly in the alleys behind the neon – no, The Algorithm occupies a darker place even than that. The bright, happy people scurry furtively into the shadows, escaping from the robot snatch squads driving up and down a neon-drenched Strip to take humans to work in assembly plants, except here the neon is all scarlet and blacklight. The sounds of lamentation and gunshots abound as tech-boosted mercenaries try to kidnap or eliminate zaibatsu board members on holiday and tangle with assassins and bodyguards. The illuminated signs jitter and sputter as electricity junctions are disabled and power is rerouted. The casinos and bars develop a quality where the entrances suddenly transform into steam belching, dripping maws hungry for flesh and money, where the broken, wall eyed, vain and insane enter for the last time in their miserable lives as the blood machines within flay them alive, and the strippers dance with dai-katana in hand, flowing through kata that leave fingers and ears laid weeping blood on tables and their stage. In short, if cenobites took over the nightlife of the world, The Algorithm would be the soundtrack to their victims discovering suffering and ecstasy simultaneously. A world where sex and violence and business and death and entertainment has all melded into one…
“Inline Assembly” is another song where the glorious synthwave vibes are traded for the insanity of fast paced drum and bass, but it makes for a punishing listening experience at volume, before the last song on this instrumental album, “Protocols” takes us back to the retro-futurist soundscapes that synthwave does so well. This piece would not be out of place as you watch the glorious last stand off the Starship Vengeance as it plunges headfirst into battle against overwhelming alien odds, seeing superstructure and armour stripped from it, bodies tumbling through rents in pressure hulls into freezing, airless space as every last erg of energy is pumped into overdriven energy weapons and enemy craft explode in vivid nuclear fireballs…
The production of the record is absolutely fucking lush, mates. The instruments are all pushed to the max, yet clarity and ease of listening is maintained at all times. The power of the production is unquestionable, even during the more frantic drum and bass influenced parts.
See what this synthesis of synthwave and metal does to me? It creates entire cinematic experiences in your head. It is the sound of echoing, vast halls filled with server farms and blinking indicator lights moments before saboteurs detonate many kilos of plastic explosive. It is a lush, invigorating soundscape of sweeping, vast beauty underpinned by violence and aggression. It is battle scenes in tropical rainforests. It is fucking perfect music. First, Master Boot Record and now this. Fuck me dead.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System (Le système breveté d’évaluation des éclaboussures de sang Dark Juan pour mes amis Francais) awards The Algorithm 9/10 for an almost perfect record. The only reason it wasn’t full marks is that there were a couple of points when a groove had been settled into and could have been exploited, but then The Algorithm got bored and went and did something else. Which is a pretty small point, but it still counts against. Sometimes. If you like Epoch Of Chirality and Master Boot Record, this album operates in the same continuum and will be a worthy addition to your collections. I’ll be raiding the back catalogue of Rémi in no time. Fnaar fnaar.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Segmentation Fault
02. Interrupt Handler
03. Decompilation
04. Read Only
05. Cryptographic Memory
06. Object Resurrection
07. Multithreading
08. Oracle Machine
09. Data Renaissance
10. Inline Assembly
11. Protocols
LINE-UP:
Rémi Gallego – Everything. Talented bastard.
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of ‘Dark Juan’ and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.