Cyferdyne - Genesys

And finally from the trio of new Death Watch Asia signings comes the UK with EBM act Cyferdyne and their debut release 'Genesys'. The band consists of vocalist's Niall Robertson, Steven Houghton and keyboardist/guitarist Adam Higginson.

Dark Forever - Starting off the album is the opener "Dark Forever". Building with a strong synth arp pattern before dropping to bring in some strong clean melodic vocals, after that some silence and kicking into the main beat and a strong bassline to accompany it. Meanwhile synth melodies are well placed throughout the form of the song interspaced by screamed vocals, showing the more aggressive side to Cyferdyne and a strong opening for 'Genesys'.

Epsilon Zero- Epsilon Zero is up next doesn't hang about straight away the beat starts off with a strong bassline screamed and clean vocals interchange throughout the verses while melodies help drive the song throughout I would say the highlight to this song is the chorus it's memorable catchy and something you could imagine being sung along by the crowd at a gig which to me is an extremely strong chorus the vocal interchanges in the song also help with the song and give the song a strong sense of varied dynamics.

Machine- track 3 is titled machine and is another boom! From the start with with more harsh vocals taking the forefront and the melodic vocals taking a more backing role the chorus like epsilon zero is another catchy affair with it's simple repeat YOUR JUST A MACHINE! Which is straight forward and works coming to the breakdown of the song there is almost silence with synths and drums all quiet giving time to breath before all hell breaks loose again.

Save Me- Save me begins with bass and kick drum coming in while almost ambient like synth pads are spaced throughout before leading into the verses beginning with clean vocals and the switching to harsh vocals leading into the chorus before easily switching back into the verses smoothly while more synth layers coming in keeping the song interesting the clean vocal performance on this song is great well controlled when holding long passages and not a crack or break in voice at all keeping the song well strong.

Feeling- Feeling starts with more melodic synth work and clean vocals while in the choruses is mainly instrumental and contains a sample that says "Ich will" which is from the Rammstein song "Ich Will" a good use of a vocal sample to help break things up and was a very cool surprise in this song being a Rammstein fan while still managing to keep the song playing to the strengths of the project.

Afraid to Dream- Starting with a real change instead of the catchy basslines and punchy kick drums the start is replaced with piano and samples from the terminator films before going off with a bang with screaming vocals a strong four on the floor beat and also the inclusion of guitars which totally changes the approach to the song giving an almost rock and metal vibe to it but not being just used as a rhythmic instrument the guitar also in places takes lead parts giving the guitar parts individuality and helping the song not sound monotonous at all and before you thought you?d heard most of the song it takes a total turn dropping in a dubstep break down and death metal like growls which took me by total surprise and helping me keep guessing throughout.

The Shell- Beginning with more terminator samples keeping a strong concept from the previous song while the kick drum sets the pulse and beginning a strong beat in 6/8 time signature and more guitar being brought into the song which is highly welcomed after the effect it had in "Afraid to Dream" and coupled with the interchanging of vocalists helps reflect the versatility of cyferdyne while strong melodies and programming help keep the balance between the melodic and heavy sides of the song.

Pathways- Pathways is a more mid tempo EBM track and is more melodic vocal focussed and probably one of the more melodic tracks on this release with it?s almost synth pop like vibe to and use of clean guitar chord stabs really helps set it apart from other songs and reinforces the versatility within the tracks throughout genesys.

Nova- The song nova brings back the more up tempo EBM approach and the more purely synth driven sound while reverting back to the use of guitars back in the chorus with big ringing chords reinforcing the drive in the chorus before removing the melodic with the aggressive shouted vocals taking over the 2nd half of the song through to the next chorus before reverting back to close and ending the track.

Sleeping with Sirens- Sleeping with sirens is up next and features more of the interchanging between clean and harsh vocals throughout the verses musically the track is purely synth driven the guitars from the previous songs are totally absent reverting back to the more EBM influenced sound which isn't a problem at all as it works very well for the band.

The Silence- keeping up the pace from the previous track the silence keeps the adrenaline rush with a strong beat acidic punchy lead lines that pierce the mix and gated and arp synths that keep the track driving and making sure that even near the end of the album there is no sign of stopping at all.

Pray For Daylight- the final track on genesys is pray for daylight and at clocking in at just over 8 minutes it's a rather epic affair beginning with a repeating synth melody clean vocals come in and is accompanied by strings before building to a clean guitar solo and almost silence before coming to the crescendo with distorted guitars lead guitar parts and acoustic drum parts giving the 2nd half a metal feel to it and vocals coming back and eventually coming to a close.

Aswell as having 12 original tracks genesys also feature 3 remixes courtesy of Alien Vampires,Grendel and CeDigest

The Shell (Alien Vampires Remix)- Alien Vampires take on the shell is done in there usual noisy trance approach and keeping the song aggressive very little of the song is reminiscent from the original alien vampires have really made it there own and turned it into a track that's aimed completely at the dancefloor.

Pathways (Grendel Remix)- Grendel's take on pathways has a very similar approach to what alien vampries did with the shell the track is in the same sound as there latest release timewave zero and is more dancefloor/club orientated upping the tempo of the song but still keeping core parts of the song while adding the spin to the song that grendel are known for.

Epsilon Zero (CeDigest Remix)- Last but not least is UK Industrial Metal act CeDigest and I'm sure you know the deal when it comes to remixes from jay ruin they are total overhauls and in this case it's a crushing one turning epsilon zero into a downtempo industrial metal track which at some points reminded me of Godflesh and then breaking down at the end to an acapella of just the chorus vocals which was a nice surprising end and proving the quality of remixes that CDG deliver time and time again.

What I can come away saying from this debut? Wow cyferdyne have delivered a debut that will have you coming back for more and more listens and also highlighting at the quality for debut albums that deathwatch asia has been releasing lately but the things I enjoyed about this album was it always had me guessing when I thought I had it all figured out the put a change in the music and kept it fresh and enjoy how they've played the versatility very well from pure EBM tracks to tracks with elements of rock and metal but most of all the vocal performances are fantastic and they dynamic it brings to the music is unreal and overall breathes fresh air into the music I'm going to give this album a 10 because I have just been blown away at the high quality for a debut well done guys on the album and look forward to the future releases to come. Aug 07 2012