It is an uncomfortable yet simple truth that some bands cross the line into being too complex or intellectual to ever become really popular --- IDM legends Aphex Twin and Autechre notwithstanding --- as Dismantled's Gary Zon lamented to death recently on "Get It Through." The duo of vocalist/lyricist Frank Spinath and Martin Vorbrodt, collectively known as Seabound, have always precariously perched themselves at the edge of this line, almost as if to dare their fans to follow them across it. Vorbrodt's compositions maintain sufficient structure to be easy on the ears, but he swaths them in enough random sequences, sweeps and samples as to make them mazelike in progression. Nowhere before have Vorbrodt's pilgrimages on the piano been more diversionary or expansive in their evolution than on Double-Crosser.

Spinath, meanwhile, is tonally one of the better vocalists the scene can claim, but his penchant for verbal eccentricity has always held him back from achieving equal footing with his electro-pop compatriots Ronan Harris and Eskil Simonnson. Harris's reliance on metaphor and Simonnson's grandiose benevolence carry their own baggage, to be sure, but Spinath's demons seem altogether unique. When he's on ---such as in "Hooked," the band's greatest work to date, or as in "The Flight [Lux]" from his Edge of Dawn side-project --- Spinath has no peers. Left to his own devices, however, his vocal styling and lyricism can appear indecisive at best and, at worst, self-indulgent.

As the name might suggest, Double-Crosser's theme is one of abuse and deceit and the psychological downward spiral subjected upon one who's been betrayed. Spinath makes this clear from the first verse of "Scorch The Ground," wearing his heart (and lungs and kidney) on his sleeve as he revels in a cascade of resentment, malady and regret. The listener is already hooked, even as "The Promise" prophesizes an album of epic emotional investment set to pulsing percussion and bittersweet, melancholy melodies. The chorus is vintage Seabound, a robust representation of everything this duo does well.

But then, as good a representation of Spinath's experience as ever there could be, comes the big let down. "DoublePlusUngood" is moving enough, but manages somehow to sound too much like both "Masses"-era Depeche Mode and "Disintegration"-era The Cure at the same time. This sets up "Sapphire", on which we find Spinath sounding more than ever like Simonnson, who produced two tracks from the album. The balance of Double-Crosser meanders through too many down tempo and muddling compositions, all be them exquisite and engagingly atmospheric, for this reviewer's taste. What's more troubling is that, aside from the flashes of anger revealed in "Domination" and "Traitor", Spinath seems to become more dependent and disenchanted on each subsequent track, with no sign of absolution in sight. The eight-minute closer, "Breathe," ambiguously alludes to revelation, but for exactly what the outcome is, we're left wanting.

This is by no means a bad album. It is an imperfect and perhaps overly indulgent one, to which the band's fans are most probably willing to extend the benefit of the doubt. And truthfully, Seabound deserves it. Individualism and experimentation have to count for something in this scene, and in this world, and the band delivers up both in ample, if sometimes excessive, portions.