Mental Discipline - Fall 2 Pieces

Mental Discipline's 2013 album Constellation was well received on this site, with a fair few of us rating the release very highly. On the back of this success, the Russian act has released a pretty impressive offering of remixes from the album.

The first track is Fall to Pieces, which was originally sung by Felix Marc of Frozen Plasma. In this version, Alex himself has taken on the vocal duties, and done a fine job of it too. The 'Constellation' album was interesting in that it featured a different vocalist for every track, but here's proof that the man behind the music could just as easily have sung the whole lot.

Mental Discipline + Assemblage 23 would have to be one of the most logical collaborations around, and as I would expect, this remix is very, very good. Tom Shear has polished this already great track to a glistening futurepop sheen. Scintillating trance plucks rise melodically above washed beds of filtered beauty, culminating in a track that would be equally at home in a club or in the car on the way home.

We Are No Machines is a reworking of Shine on Me, one of my favourite tracks from Mental Discipline's latest album Constellation. The addition of female vocals works well, with the delivery sounding something like vocal trance while retaining the mirror-finish futurepop edge.

The [:SITD:] effort is a slow but powerful stomper, with some impressive vocal panning effects rising above tight, punchy beats. And yet with all of this quality permeating the disc, I wasn't ready for what I think is the greatest moment on the disc - the Ginger Snap5 remix of God & Devil. The word 'blown away' is surely overused in reviews, but anyone who can make a wall of noise sound this focused is right on top of their game. It's one of the most exciting tracks I have heard in a while, and clubby enough to electrify a dancefloor. I really, honestly, can't wait to play this to a crowd. Yes, it is that good.

Finishing up this mini-EP is the 'warmer' remix of "Fall to Pieces". If warmer is supposed to bring forth images of tranquil tropical beaches, then Alex has succeeded here. I know it gets damned cold in Russia, so I can see the appeal. It's a whimsical track that takes the original melody line and strips it back to something a bit more relaxed. The string synth washes and echoing vocals work well together in this context.

If you have the' Constellation' album and love it as much as I do, I'd suggest that you grab hold of this. It's of the same high standard that I would expect from such an established act, and the contributions from other artists have been very well chosen and implemented. Aug 12 2013