Tineidae - Exo

I shall not claim to be familiar with the discography of Ukrainian artist Pavlo Storonsky's project Tineidae. A quick look on Discogs shows me that the project had their debut album out on Tympanik Audio in 2012 which is as good a sign as any for me. The once prosperous label on the forefront of industrial, IDM, ambient, and other such underground electronic genres was known for bringing talent out of the blue; I am sure that Tineidae's signing to the label was a testament to the producer's overall sound design. The reason I learned of this project was due to their latest album and release "Exo", a ten track album released via Cryo Chamber. What made me write about it was the fact that I find this album to be a brilliant and wonderful excursion to the stars above and beyond.

Following the story of a black market contractor whose goal is to wipe the mainframe from a derelict mothership as its distress messages are censored. The album thus kicks off with 'Blacklight Trail', a gorgeous rendition of a journey to outer space with sweeping synths begging for a sad and solemn tale to be told. The backing radio chatter only adds to the already cosmic identity the song claimed from the get go. 'Patterns in the Sky' has a slow, silent start but allowed each individual note to bleed into my ears and mind; images of a broken down space ship - larger than life itself - came into mind as the protagonist wondered through the ominous ruins of a once technological marvel. 'Abandoned Mothership' helps betray any sense of safety as the dark ambiance portraying curiosity mounts into sudden haunting science fiction abyss. This is only clarified with the alarms that start off with 'Metal Claws'; it builds into a tense, almost battle-ready song. It's as if our protagonist awoke something across the mothership and now they are the target.

'Battle Scars' consists of drone notes seeping through the background as further trickles of futuristic sound design burst from its silent seems while 'Stars so Bright, My Eyes Hurt' uses tense noise walls to make an atmospherically fulfilling dream-like trance. The beginning of 'Reconnection' sounds like the inner working of advanced machinery as it spurs back to life with inquisitive audio nodes coming forth later; could our protagonist have stumbled upon something they weren't supposed to? 

The only song on the album that had no actual appeal to me on the album came after. Titled 'Sky Burial', it sounds like every other dark ambient or drone song I've heard across the board. While not disengaging nor poor in production, it suffers in lack of creativity and inspiration when compared to other songs on the album. 'Star Mist', however, raised the playing ground back to the heights I came to expect the album with further deeply hypnotic drones and synths casting a locking and innovative aural architecture upon me.

Finally - my God, finally - we came to the 'Epilogue'. This song on the album gives me chills every time I hear it and it's my favorite on the entire album. Hints of its brilliance are built up into a orgasmic and optimistic composition that utterly swept me off my feet beginning around the three-and-a-half minute mark. I absolutely fell in love with this song; I think it's flawless in its design and ideal in execution. This song is a remarkable piece of music that's hard to come by. Maybe once or twice a year do I find a song that just hits all the right spots for me but when I do find them they become not just a song on my playlist, but a memory in my head. A memory that serves as a defining example that I compare other songs to in the future when reviewing albums within their genre. Ladies and gentlemen and musicians from across the world, if you're look for a way to end off your album, you do it with this delivery and no other.

To recap everything I had just said in a concluding paragraph would be nonsense; this is a near-perfect album with an impeccable conclusion. So instead I leave you with that sentence to reflect on. The album is still available in a limited edition CD format while the digital version will remain eternal. I already got mine; you should get yours, too. 
Sep 08 2020