Surgyn - Vanity (Original Version)

They couldn't... could they? I became aware of Scottish duo Surgyn a few months ago, when listening to a 3 track press kit which blew me away immediately - I marked it at the time as an absolute whirlwind of excellence.
Several months on, "Vanity" is released, and I confess that just on immediate appearance, I know this is going to be HUGE.

Taking on a fantastic aesthetic, where Vanity is everything, appearance maketh the man, and reconstruction is on offer (at any price), Surgyn consists of Veil (Chief of Surgery) - Music and Vocals, and Sovereign (Master Surgeon) - Lyrics and vocals.

My immediate impression was that the band have gone all out on this gimmick, and the inlay shows the duo in all sorts of excellent outfits, reminiscent of Australian act Shiv-R at times, there's obviously a massive onus on appearance, glamour, and vanity. What do you do to your music, when it's so preceded by such a powerful gimmick, to make it maintain interest and not become second fiddle?

Surgyn even have the answer to this - I feel like some ones operated on the Industrial scene, and pulled out a million new ideas and concepts. The first 1:25 seconds is an intro track called "Beauty" which has the clever idea of a heart monitor beeping, behind layers of powerful Electronic sounds and Pulses - genuinely Hospital like, and almost creepy in the suggestion.

First proper track "Sever" is off the starting block like a Greyhound on Speed, and actually, this is fucking Astounding - the vocals are so fitting and well performed, the drums and bass are very well mixed and extremely coherent and present, and the synth work is enjoyable and original.

"Watch the Mirror you made Shatter, See your precious kingdom rust".
It truly appears that Surgyn has every base covered - I can't remember the last time I grinned like this during a first listen of an album, and I almost have to pinch myself to confirm this is real.

The perfect length for an album like this would be 10 tracks, and guess how many tracks this is? Yep... picture perfect stuff. The three tracks from the press kit are on here too ("The Stranger", "Faceless" and "Aesthetics") - this time given a "Vanity" remix.

The album is best categorised as Electro-Industrial, with a large leaning towards TBM - it could be Combichrist, it could be Soman, it could be the newest Die Sektor album - but it's none of these things - It retains the huge bass and Techno driven elements, but has a unique sound. Ironically, it's almost like the genre has been given a facelift.

From the brutal, snaring "Code Black" to the aptly named "Hit the Nerve", and the closing outro "Agony", there is seldom a moment on this release where I lose interest, the lyrics go from strength to strength, and 10 tracks later, I still honestly have no idea how this band has happened - It's as fresh as a Glade plug-in, and as necessary to the scene as a smelling salt under the nose.

Surgyn have arrived. Cutting, Shaping, Structuring, and perfecting.
With "Vanity", a powerful statement has been made indeed. Just look at that album cover - it doesn't need to say ANYTHING, such is the nature of vanity.

Highly essential. May 25 2011