Review Summary: Creativity spins into the void, though the quality may still remain
The past few years have not been kind to Klayton. It’s not just the fact that his newest Celldweller album was subject to a series of delays not seen since
Wish Upon a Blackstar, or that the drip-feed of nearly the entire album as singles arguably killed any remaining hype that could’ve stuck around. There’s also the whole Blue Stahli falling out situation to consider, with some... uncomfortable revelations about Klay and his record label as a whole that cast his work in a much more negative light. Throughout all this, Klay worked on releasing his upcoming projects, including a full remaster of Circle of Dust’s debut album (for the umpteenth time), and, of course, his newest Celldweller project,
Satellites. So, with all the turmoil going on, how does this album stack up?
The album’s most immediate stand-out feature is its remarkably short tracklist. This is Celldweller we’re talking about, a guy who consistently released hour, or near-hour long projects. And yet
Satellites clocks in at 8 tracks and a comparatively breezy 43 minutes. It’s a pretty good sign off the bat, as one of Celldweller’s greatest weaknesses in the past was albums that were too long for their own good, oftentimes managing to outstay their welcome, or at least come close.
Satellites though? It remains short enough for its sound to be engaging, without feeling too short that it flashes by.
The sound itself is a pretty welcome return to form for Klayton following the softer
Offworld, arguably the heaviest and darkest he’s ever been on Celldweller, or at least since his self-titled debut. Heavy, gritty guitars merge with electronic swells, that make this album feel like the grandest project Celldweller's attempted so far, despite the short runtime. “My Disintegration” is the easy highlight in this regard, perfectly mixing the aggression and heaviness with a gorgeous keyboard-led bridge, all leading up to a softer section that, while maybe a bit jarring, provides one of the album’s better climaxes. That being said, I can’t help but feel that the production suffered a bit here. Compression is this album’s enemy, and the drums lack a lot of punch on certain tracks (I noticed it most painfully on “Baptized in Fire”).
However, the production, flawed as it may be, is far from the worst thing on this album. That honor goes to the lyrics. Klayton has never been a strong lyricist, this is a well-known fact, but some parts of
Satellites are just exhausting. The number of cross-references and call-backs to other albums and projects borders on full parody. “Blind Lead the Blind” references “Into the Void”, “Soul Parasites” references “My Disintegration”
and “Offworld” from his previous album. “Baptized in Fire” references “End of an Empire”. I think you get the point. The album’s lyrics reek of unoriginality, not helped by every song having the same overall motif of connection and parasitic relationships.
On top of all of this, the album honestly just feels like Klayton is spinning his wheels. The songs themselves are fine musically (“My Disintegration” was in my top favorite Celldweller songs for a while), but in the bigger picture, there’s nothing all that innovative or special about this album, something shocking when you consider how experimental Celldweller’s past albums were. Between the sheer amount of remaster and remix releases, between both here and Circle of Dust, and the near zero amounts of fanfare surrounding this release, it’s hard to see this album as anything other than Klayton releasing an album out of obligation to make more money.
That's probably
Satellites’s most damning quality, the fact that it paints a picture of an artist falling from grace, releasing albums to try and keep the wheels spinning, as the passion slowly drains. It’s not awful, by any stretch of the imagination. The guitars are heavy and fun, the electronic elements are still nice to listen to, and none of the songs make me want to tear my headphones off and scream into a pillow in frustration. But it’s not amazing either. It’s just good. For fans of his self-titled or even
End of an Empire, you’ll probably get a good kick out of this. But if you’re looking for something fresh and new, it might be wise to look elsewhere.
