/IcelationWorks/ - /generator/

Released: April 18

/generator/ is an album that is difficult to sum up in a single genre term. There's quite a bit of different influences that are mixed together here, though I'm sure you could just say this is an ambient album if you'd like to remove any nuanced consideration. But that would mean you miss out on a great deal of rather interesting arrangements here, specifically those that incorporate pulsing bass and synth tones such as the albums opener, "/alpha-wav/." It starts off with just the solitary pulse of synth tone but is soon joined by a simple drum kit in the background to give us something with what I like to call a night driving groove. It never quite builds up, if anything it seems to periodically build down as intermittent soft whooshes take over momentarily. But it maintains this neat little balance between something ambient and something resembling early Kraftwerk the whole time and its definitely something quite nice. 

There's a couple other songs that do something similar including "/isotope/" and "/spirit-box/." The former is a bit more subdued and relaxed with a slow and steady beat that is reinforced by a small and simple set of percussion. The middle of the track really caught my attention as nearly everything fades away and the track becomes quiet ambient as we are left with just airy pads and atmospherics until the rhythm slowly reappears bit by bit. The other track mentioned, however, is quite different. With this one the krautrock influences come out well with a most upbeat rhythm that feels almost like racing music that you might hear on an old PlayStation game. But this bass and beats driven pulse is offset by big airy pads that stretch well over the measures, which makes for something a bit unexpected but works well. 

Much of the rest of the album falls firmly in ambient territory with some interesting bits of different influences thrown in for added flavor. "/industrial-complex/" has a deep and droning quality to it that is enhanced by the hypnotic circular motion of the pads that make up the foundation of the track. While this hypnotic aura is doing its work, fuzzy electronic keys come sprinkling in with a recurring and orderly cycle to them that adds to the hypnotizing vibe. "/codex-electronic/" takes a slightly different approach to drone with a slow moving pad that supplement a rather static one, giving a sense of movement and solid stability. But what brings all of these different approaches through eleven tracks together is the tone. Ultimately, it feels cold overall but not to the point of being lifeless. It gives me images of an eternally foggy world, one were life springs up only sparsely but has found its niche in an otherwise difficult landscape.