Surveillance - Oceania

Surveillance is not the first side project of esteemed Assemblage 23, Nerve Filter did a release back in the days, but was no big success. However, things are set right with the new side project and 'Oceania' might actually be one of Tom Shear's strongest releases in years.

Overall, Surveillance is a much harder and EBM focused project compared the more Futurepop'esque Assemblage 23. I would not dare to say inspiration, but at least similarities can be found with old Covenant ("Panic"), Front Line Assembly ("Belief") and even later year's Spetsnaz ("Voyeur"). If Tom would agree with me, or even if you, the reader, would agree with me, is a whole other matter.

Right from the get go, Surveillance shows us this release means business. The brutally heavy "I Was There" featuring Carolyn Powers is one amazing piece of dystopian dance track. And also, it's a great way to make sure you really understand that this is not Assemblage 23 with a different name, it's a completely own entity.

The thing is that this album do not stop there, right after you have the more Old-School sounding "Thoughtcrime" and "Voyeur" and they are both a pedal to the metal highway to beat fix heaven.

Even though some of the tracks hint towards the Assemblage 23 legacy, especially "Eye to Eye" and in some sense also "Rise", it doesn't bother me, not at all. I can understand that it's hard to completely ignore the style you've developed the last 15 years, just because you want to try something different.

In this 10 track package, there's not a single bad, or even alright, track. Every single track on this album ranges from great to amazing and it includes quite a range of subgenres. The overall theme of a big brother state suits the music perfectly, while you as the listener is trying to figure out if the beating bass is the marching rhythm of said big brother state running you over, or if it's the march of the people that simply had enough.

I will do a bet right here, right now. I believe this one will Album of the Month for March and will be a part of the Album of the Year countdown of 2014. In less than one month we will see if my first bet turns to reality and in 9 months if I nail the second.

A link to Bandcamp where you are able to buy a digital version of the album is just to your right, make sure you click it. $9.99 is a bargain. Mar 04 2014