Review Summary: Welcome to a new plane of existence where the light from the bomb created permanent shadows.
You’ve most likely spaced out sometime in your life, maybe hundreds of times. When you stare off into oblivion, your eyes not focusing in on any object or area. You simply remain still; your mind traveling off into another plain of existence that is not often translated properly into the real world. I do this sort of thing quite often actually, I will sit for periods of time, sometimes up to thirty minutes in length spacing out, oblivious of the world around me. On a recent April afternoon while listening to some new music this happened again, only this time the translation from oblivion to reality was successful; bringing back with me a surreal vision of a world where the sky bleeds a sickening shade of red, one closest to that of blood, and normal colors are inverted, becoming negative. People who I knew from home or school were aimlessly wandering around, their bodies warped into unrecognizable forms. Once I snapped back into reality I was met with disbelief, I had no idea of where that image came from, it just appeared and vanished. I checked the time on my iPod. The screen flashed to life and on it read the time 3:26, 13 minutes had passed. Just under that though was an album cover, the album I just purchased less than an hour ago, Tours Of The Bleak by Sugary Sweet Machines.
Giving the album cover a closer look I realized it was eerily similar to that of my vision, dark, negative, and a sky covered in red. Dazed with confusion I sat there now keenly listening to the music as if I would find any connection there. I was not disappointed by the Post-Industrial haze. The atmosphere of the album completely reflected that of the cover and my vision, it completely engulfed me into a world that was: dreary, numbing, insane, haunted, and as the titled suggests, bleak. I was and still am amazed that this feat was accomplished by just two friends who had never attempted a project as ambitious as this before. The consistency of the brutal and overwhelmingly haunting atmosphere; the way the tracks blend into one another, congregating into one conglomerate shape, one single unit, spanning over the course of forty-four minutes is nothing short of top notch. Yet at the same time a special few songs bring a nice amount of diversity to the table, keeping it from being completely engulfed by it’s own atmosphere.
One of the crowning achievements of Tours Of The Bleak is how consistently dynamic most of the songs are, many including 3 or more unique sections. To give an example Judgment and Bliss begins with an oddly comforting electronic chime before erupting into a series of industrial beats and noise. Standout track Permanent Shadows does nearly the opposite, starting with an explosion of chaotic fuzz and distortion before developing into a blues-based piano tune. While not as dynamic or evolving as some of the other tracks, Long Walk Home works perfectly as both a single and an album opener. With the repeating piston-esque beat fronted by an onslaught of furious horns the track makes for a surprisingly catchy and memorable introduction. Speaking of surprises, despite the album’s unconventional songwriting and unpredictable nature it makes for a pleasantly easy listen.
Now sadly Tours Of The Bleak is not flawless. It still faces a problem that almost all bands have trouble with and that is impact of it’s individual songs. As I stated before, the album does have a number of unique moments such as the previously mentioned Permanent Shadows and the offbeat, distorted riff that is the focus of the title track but some fail to leave as much of a mark. Nameless/Featureless like all of the tracks continues this hammering of intense atmosphere but lacks a memorable musical passage to stand strong on it’s own. Same could go for Tears At The Eye Of The Storm although it is easily the stronger of the two. That's not to say that these songs are bad or mediocre, actually far from it. All of the tracks on the album excel at their own individual purpose, it’s just that some tracks feel as if their intent wasn't quite as well-developed or ambitious as others.
While it is a flawed record, the final product is an unexpected surprise when looking at the bigger picture. Tours Of The Bleak is a debut that lays a solid foundation for future releases while standing as a more than capable album on it’s own. Bringing forth an intensely consistent and brooding form of post-rock/industrial music it conveys mesmerizing imagery and encapsulates the feelings of wandering through a desolate and previously unknown world. Tours Of The Bleak welcomes you to a journey of nuclear catastrophes while being followed by surreal figures, ending as the world of this apocalyptic and mysterious fantasy comes to a close. Leaving you breathless in the meantime. Recently I've come to know the creators of this album quite well, conversing with them and listening to their own solo projects over the past couple weeks. Now usually when a friend shows you their creations: whether it be music, art, or writing you will compliment them on their work even if you don’t truly believe it’s actually good. I have had to do this many times throughout my life before, but now as I continuously indulge in their first collaboration, I can wholeheartedly meant it when I say, this is something special.
