Technomancer - System Failure

Technomancer is the brainchild of self confessed "cyberpunk enthusiast" Roy Julian Digre, and has been active since his debut release 'De:Harmonized' in 2009.

Working out of Norway, Roy has worked on several releases since, both with Technomancer and as part of Laboratory 5, and has now teamed up with Ex-Apoptygma Bezerk member Per Aksel Lundgreen, who has co-produced the latest technomancer release: 'System Failure'.

Technomancer sits firmly in the melodic end of the electronic music scale, and 'System failure' wears its influences proudly with many nods to Apoptygma Berzerk (perhaps unsurprisingly), mind.in.a.box and even some Numanesque key work at times.

'System Failure' manages to be both Poppy and beat-driven, with strong production providing a bounce and a sheen to every track...in fact, this album could even sneak into the category of EBM, albeit the lighter end, as the powerful low end present in it's construction will easily keep the dancers happy.

The songs lend themselves equally to singalongs, much like Covenant or Rotersand, and I think it is quite an achievement to have songs that are both powerful enough to drive the boots on the dancefloor, and still hold enough of a melodic interest for the casual listener.

The most noticable weakness of the record in my opinion is the vocal performance, which although largely strong, has moments where it struggles with the more complex arrangements.

There are instances, especially where there are long sustained notes, or sudden changes in note, where there is a noticeable weakness to the vocal technique, which is a shame, as when Roy nails his vocal lines, he does so quite impressively.

This is something he will no doubt improve upon in future, but it is a negative, however slight, and as such it does detract a little from some of the tracks.

Another small criticism is that there is perhaps little new that is added to the genre in 'System Failure', and although it is no doubt a strong record, it stays safely within the confines of what is safe, with no real changes in rhythm, pace or style.

However, the sci-fi/Cyberpunk vibes that pervade the album do provide it with a strong sense of atmosphere, and a cohesive string that leads the listener from one track to the next, and it also must be said that I could easily close my eyes and Imagine tracks from 'System Failure' as part of a futuristic movie soundtrack (which is definitely a cool thing in my eyes).

Overall, although this record is a little constricted by the genre/sounds chosen, it is a very good example of well produced 'Cyber' pop, and I can find very little to fault in it.

The beats are strong, the baselines powerful, and the songwriting solid and you can do a lot worse than check out 'System Failure' and Technomancer, especially if you are a Sci-Fi geek like me ;) Jul 30 2013