In Silico review (autoplay included)

[Hammi]

I made sure that no one had already made a thread about this, so here ya go. The album was released before this summer but oh well. Its been a long time since ive done a review on anything. Not gonna rant excessively anyway, so im just gonna carefully review the whole album.

Pendulum makes the best DnB tracks imo. Y'all do know about Hold Your Colour, where one of the tracks was used by rtil in "Metropolis Circuit". A great DnB album. But this year, In Silico demonstrates a change in the Pendulum group where theyve switched their style to rock and electronic music. Plus theyve toned down the dnb sound. Reactions were clear. Criticism was unavoidable. Pendulum is selling out, plus theyve signed to a big record label and relocated to london. Nothing wrong with that, but theyve jumped on a different boat and headed to another direction leaving the fans clueless.

Now, what i think about the album. Well lets have a look at the tracks:

1. Showdown
2. Different
3. Propane Nightmares
4. Visions
5. Midnight Runner
6. The Other Side
7. Mutiny
8. 9,000 Miles
9. Granite
10. The Tempest

And now, about reviewing each of them.

1: I didnt like it. It was horrible. I could tell that theyve eased down on the bass and instead trying to make good use of guitar riffs and a different way of using electronic music. It didnt work well. Some of the tune was kind of catchy, but the vocal was just... frustrating. For me, it all eventually just fell apart.

2: Another "traditional" rock track. It didnt satisfy me either. Very little use of dnb or it was rather weak. And even more guitar and punk style vocal. Also repetitive. I got easily bored of it so it didnt catch any much attention from me.

3: This one must be one of the much better tracks on the album. Also a notable use of dnb and the classic pendulum synth. Even though they use organs and 8-bit style tune in attempt to make it indie, id say its not so bad as it sounds like. Youre listening to it on autoplay right now.

4: Vocoder music, oh boy. And another small amount of 8-bit sounds. Not to mention a whole lot of indie rock mixed with bass and electronic music. Can it get any better than this? No not really it wont be any better. Kill me.

5: A very decent track. The start flows nicely over to dnb. Finally some good drum and bass. But it gets weirder for every 2 minutes. Must be the use of electronic music. At the end, it starts to suck. So i wont rate it high.

6: A guitar rock track mixed with slow dnb. Also the main verse: "Come on down to the other side, come with us to the gates of hell, where we will drag you from where you are, to where you belong". It made me laugh. Another verse was like "the shit is coming down". WTF? This track must be one of those i cant take seriously. I also noticed that theyre trying to have a sound similar to daft punk. Dont count on that.

7: I liked this only a lil. Not entirely but the tune in this one is catchy. Even though they dont have the classic dnb use in it, its catchy. But yet again, they have this rock esque feel in it. Ok so they do have rock riffs and shit in it. Like they have in australian bars lmfao. Jk. Well no shit they are aussies, like gerks. Anyways a lot of amounts of rock here. The ending is straining.

8: Good feel in this one. The start is a bit long but ok. Still, good use of bass and some urban instruments. The guitar and the electronic sound blends well too. No solid dnb here though, but id say its a good track nonetheless. Not their best but still a nice track you can listen to.

9: More 8-bit sounds complete with spooky whistling at the start. Corny. But then, the track switches over to dnb. Toned down but still good. But the spooky whistling isnt over, it continues in some parts of the song. Some more guitar riffs too and some more use of punky vocals. The track is OK. The only thing i liked about it is the dnb.

10: Another rock-esque track. Its striving to be a classic rock track. And i absolutely hated it. This turns out to be flat out awful, and the vocalist is unable to serve the satisfaction as well. Overall, the track turned out to be absolutely shit. It sadly made no sense imo. What a bad way to end the album.

Conclusion

The album has a few good tunes. But it is overall a great disappointment to dnb/Pendulum fans. They dont seem to be totally consistent with other genres than dnb. Its my honest opinion. Sure theyre good with the instruments, but all that dont blend well with their style. They just dont... go together. They tried to pull off an indie rock/electronic mix alongside with dnb, but it didnt work well. Imo the switch of style was a big mistake, since they have a GREAT success of making dnb music and they should keep on expanding in that area. Stick to it. Hell, their roots come from dnb. So the album failed to meet the expectations, that would be MY expectations. I rate it 4/10.

If anyone got any opinions on this album, go ahead and discuss.

[rtil]

rock and electronic? ew. i'll try it out anyways

[adamant]

devo are the only electronic rock outfit i like

[trent bortknob]

do you think a single person here cares what you think about a band that none of us havent heard of

[Philip K Dick]

do you think a single person here cares what you think about a band that none of us havent heard of

uh like everyones heard of pendulum

[trent bortknob]

apparently rtil and ant havent

[rtil]

what are you talking about? i know pendulum

[trent bortknob]

you said "i'll try it out" so i gigured you had never herasd of them

ok well whatever we still dont care

[rtil]

i meant i'll try out their new sound
but judging by this music playing right now i have a feeling i will not like it

[jjjjjjjjjj]

It sounds....ok.

Hold your Colour is still their best album imo.

[adamant]

apparently rtil and ant havent

i used to listen to 'em non-stop well over a year ago

[adamant]

devo are the only electronic rock outfit i like

actually i forgot about praxis
and basically the entire krautrock movement

and polysics and killing joke and chick corea electric band and the residents and soft machine

[billy]

nobody wins in this city

[Hammi]

Updated my news post on NG, you can check out ALL the songs here:

http://hammi.newgrounds.com/news/post/179815