Review by Dull Orange Pulse

I will say up front that I enjoy coldwave. I miss the chugging sampled guitars and drum 'n' bass drum lines. I miss the Gibson inspired techno-babble lyrics. I miss the image of the industrial rockstar posing in a cowboy hat. Somewhere near the end of the millenium all of this seemed to fall out of favor with the industrial crowd as the mosh pit gave way to the dance floor. Industrial "bands" turned into industrial "artists," and the guitar became completely shunned. Maybe it's because I grew up in the 90's, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for industrial rock. That's why I think I get so much enjoyment out of Cyanotic's new album, Transhuman.

"Transhuman" is the debut full length album from this midwestern trio, put out on their own Glitch Mode record label. It is a very professional release, and the production (done by Jason Novak of Acumen Nation/DJ? Acucrack fame) is great. All the elements of the songs are well seperated, and there is no low-end mud. The tracks sit very nicely at that point of having a nice thick layered feeling without passing into the zone of too many elements fighting each other for space in a muddled audio field. My only problem with the production are the guitars are pushed a little too far to the back and are a little too digital and thin for my tastes. It really doesn't bother me that much listening to the CD through my desktop or car speakers, but hearing it right now through my studio headphones, the problem is definitely more pronounced.

After a short introduction track, the album kicks off with a couple draining bass drum hits and a drum 'n' bass loop before launching into a full-bore coldwave assault on the listener. "Order Out Of Chaos" is probably the strongest track on the album, and sets the mold for the rest of the songs. If anyone reading this has heard the "Mutual Bonding Through Violation" demo EP, they will notice the production on this track has been bumped up more then a few notches (although I do miss the old obnoxiousnous of the screaming synth sound that pops up near the middle on the old mix). The building plan for most of the songs are chopped up guitar bits over a drum 'n' bass beat with the occasional movie sample breakdown that features little bits of synthesizer goodness floating around the sample.

My favorite track on the album is the next track, "Insurgence." It gives me flashbacks to my early teenage years spent playing entirely too much Quake 2. After this track the album slows down a bit, but the formula pretty much stays the same. After the short instrumental track "Actuator," the album starts to pick back up. I hear strong Acumen Nation influences in "Beta Blocker", and probably through out the whole album now that I think of it. I would definitely say it is in the same vein as Acumen Nation, but a little bit harsher. The album ends with the pounding "Antithesis," and then the airy mellow instrumental "Higher States of Consciousness."

If you are feeling nostalgic for the industrial of the past decade, or are simply looking for a very good modern guitar driven industrial project, give this CD a spin. I was hoping we might have gotten to experience a coldwave revival after all the futurepop died out, but it looks like we are in for a few more years of 4/4 distorted 909 beats (not that I don't enjoy a good deal of this too). Pick up a copy of this CD and help smaller musicians put out their own stuff, because that's how it should be.