In this Blog I will be reviewing the new Pendulum record 'Immersion'. But before I do must pay respects to two totally different but very popular people in the Metal scene who have been taken from us. They are of course the Vocal Tower of Power Ronnie James Dio and Slipknot's left handed bassist Paul Gray. Wherever you may be, get a band together up there with The Rev and Dimebag and bring the rock and see you again one day, rest in peace.
It starts very similarly to Hold Your Colour with the short intro track 'Genesis' leading to 'Salt in the Wounds'. Now quite a few people I have spoken to about think it sounds almost too similar to 'Slam' but I disagree, while they have the same key and the same modulation half way through there the massive impact of the Dubstep style breakdown in the middle and the more fixed ending shows a development in Rob Swire's writing skills as in my view it is just as good as 'Slam' even though there is not the same egotistical strut of opening 16 bars.
'Watercolour' is the most successful single in the band's history and it's not hard to see why. The epic party pumping chorus line 'throw your fists up, come with me' and the simplistic yet jumping instrumental bits make a perfect commercial successor to 'Propane Nightmares'. However the best bit for me is the opening 4 lines which is just Rob Swire's epic harmonised vocals and the beautiful piano part really make the song for me.
'Set Me On Fire' is the biggest departure in terms of they're style up until this point. Not being the biggest Dubstep fan I was worried that this song might disappoint me but it turns out it's a rip roaring dancefloor epic, perfect for getting your booty moving with the only sight of female vocals on the album.
'Crush' is the first proper Rock anthem. This F# Minor based tune crashes around at constant fast pace and features everything that made tracks like 'Granite' and 'Hold Your Colour' rip roaring successes I think they are and a very upbeat general feel alongside a theme this album seems to be producing: MASSIVE choruses big enough to kick the moons arse all the way to Mars and the acoustic end is a bit weird but a nice way to draw the song to a close.
'Under The Waves' is the true chillout track on the album. A chance to catch your breath and pay attention to the detail this band can go into. While done in a similar style to '9000 Miles' but making more use of the growing vocal capabilities of young Mr Swire.
'Immunize' features Prodigy big gun Liam Howett and it shows with not only why Prodigy are so loved but also that (in view) the Drum and Bass torch has been passed to Pendulum. The dischordal nature that Prodigy brought to the forefront has been taken to the next level by this group of strange Australian's.
My one disappointment on this album is The two part dance off that is the 'The Island'. Don't get me wrong, if it came on in a club I would be off my backside instantly and it's one of the best songs in it's style but particularly part one could be attributed to Calvin Harris in a strange way. Part 2 makes everything go weird and enforces the ability to 'move yo ass' and improves the concept as a whole.
'Comprachicos' is a groovy little shit. The shortest track in the bands history there is a lot to fit in less than 3 minutes. With a mixture of dirty sounding keyboards and sampled but heavy sounding guitars gives this song a personality all it's own. All in all a good one but one I would have possibly wanted to hear them get properly 'dutty'.
'The Vulture' features the début of their MC (The Truth). He is a very good rapper for this track despite his disappointing attempt to Tarantula on the Brixton DVD. Another track that is almost Prodigy sounding but can very easily be told as being Pendulum.
'Witchcraft' starts in the same sort of way as Watercolour except the vocals come straight in. However this a full blown rock epic. The live drums at the most to this track for me, giving it that driving hard rock edge with the ever growing vocal prospect of Rob Swire and his harmonies. Despite this being the 4th time F minor has been used as a key in the record he doesn't make the mistake of sounding old and repeated and the massive refrain 'You Gotta Get Out, Go Far Away' could well be one of the soundtracks to a hopefully epic summer since this is the second single confirmed for release.
'Self vs Self' is by far the biggest eye-raiser without even hearing it. Featuring the singer, guitarist and bassist for one of the most influential death metal bands there is, In Flames, there was a mixture of happiness, intrigue and total disgust before the track even surfaced. Pendulum's cover of Master of Puppets show Metal isn't entirely out of their range but it is a big step to take for an electronica group. However this song is sublime. Successfully fusing what makes both bands great with the help of Drop Bb tuned guitars (to non-guitarists the strings, unless set up in correct way, feel like absolute bungee chord) and Rob Swire's vocals blending really well with the In Flames vocalist in the pre chorus and the chorus. One of my top 3 from the album.
'The Fountain', featuring Porcupine Tree vocalist and general Musical Maverick Steve Wilson is more similar to 'Midnight Runner' than anything else in their back catalogue. Some quiet yet very nice guitar lines and the wonderful melody produced by Wilson are what make the song one of the most musically interesting numbers on the album as a whole but due to the high quality of the collaborations it is not the best of them, that honour going to Self vs Self.
Another track I worried about was album closer 'Encoder' and not because of whether it would be a good enough song to bring the album to a close: It's ancestor 'The Tempest' is one of my all time favourite songs and there has not been an album closer this decade in my view that comes close to it's stunning ending. This song is different as the first 3 minutes of the song have a completely different feel to anything on the album so far with proper acoustic guitars and almost minimal keyboard minus the intro. This is nice and shows a band maturing into (fingers crossed) one of the most prolific bands in music today. However it is at 3 minutes where the song kicks into gear with the same key and similar build up to 'The Tempest' but in a very different way. The vocal section can be seen as nice but truly not needed but the last line of 'May as Well let it die' shows how the song ends with gradual fade out with the beautifully simple synth line and just shows a band absolutely on fire in every sense of the word.
Now for the tough question, my favourite song on the album itself. Ever track has strength's and weaknesses but for me there are 3 that stand out: 'Self vs Self', 'Witchcraft', and 'Encoder' show a strength in mixing a commercial type of genre and turning into an album that for me, has already defined my 2010 in such a way that if there is currently one CD I would want to hear in the last 70 minutes of my life it would be this one. All hail Pendulum, hope Milton Keynes and Sonisphere live up to this powerhouse of a record. 10/10, simply brilliant.
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