Mark Palgy aka DE4THRACE decided to take things in a different artistic direction. Palgy explains, “In my life I’ve done so much songwriting and pop, I felt the urgent need to go in the opposite direction. I was so inspired by art films and horror films that I couldn’t take it anymore and only wanted to make dark, meandering psychedelic soundscapes.” That inspiration would eventually become a six- song EP entitled The Michael.
The first song is entitled “Slippery Slope” and is a bit of a slow burn. This song felt like there were two distinct elements - the drums and the atmosphere. As far as the drums go it is a heavy hitting rhythm where the fills as essentially part of the beat. The atmosphere felt like a number of different elements but mainly one lead synth where the pitch is being bent. I thought it was a great introduction. Up next is “I Want to Open Up Your Skull and Crawl Into Your Brain and Change All of Your Thoughts” where the electronic elements felt intensified and aligned with the energy. This felt like a hyperdrive type of wormhole with more alien-like elements. Everything kind of revolves around this consistent 4/4 industrial beat. “Lost TV” felt like a good call to make after the previous song. This is much more subdued. There is static, white noise and a killer sax solo at the end which was fantastic. “We Used to Dance” felt a little more bright than the other tunes and reminded me of the soundtrack from Stranger Things. I also enjoyed the airy elements towards the end which created a captivating juxtaposition. “They Were Right” sounded almost like an extension of “We Used to Dance.” It seemed more cerebral than dark to me. Last up is “After the Flood” which again felt less horror infused and more cerebral. I was actually reminded of M83 on this song. I love a good dark album. Konoyo by Tim Hecker and You Won't Get What You Want by Daughters are right up there for me in my greatest of all time favorites. The Michael is a great EP. It might be by design but it started off dark to me and almost with every sequential track felt lighter. As I mentioned it started to feel more thought provoking and cerebral especially with the last two songs. I would be interested in hearing Palgy going into his darker tendencies even more on his future efforts. Overall, this is a well produced and delivered release. It benefits from being played from beginning to end. I’m looking forward to hearing more. Recommended.
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