Perhaps it's the first time you can read here about a band playing progressive metal, but 01011001 is probably the best album I've heard this year. Calling Ayreon a one-dimensional metal band is kind of simplification as Arjen Anthony Lucassen, the man behind this project combines various genres, from ambient to progressive metal. I'm sure, however, that even orthodox electroheads may find this mixture interesting.
Some people say that progmetal is soullles - not in this case. On 0101100 you won't find tedious guitar solos or other displays of showing off. It sheer emotional music.

If you're not sure you'll like it, I'd suggest starting from the second song - "Comatose". It's a dreamy song full of electronic sounds featuring both male and female vocalists.

01011001 is a concept album - another sci-fi story by Arjen Lucassen. The lyrics at the album are as great as the music. 01011001's plot is tied to the "Planet Y" and "Forever of the Stars" storyline developed in the albums Into the Electric Castle, Universal Migrator and The Human Equation, but you don't need to know these albums to have fun exploring the lyrics. "01011001" is the binary representation of the hexadecimal number 59 (i.e., 5 = "0101", 9 = "1001"), the decimal equivalent is the number 89, which is the ASCII code for the letter Y. It makes sense if you know the story of imaginary Planet Y.

The album features 17 vocalists and 10 instrumentalists. Pretty impressive, isn't it? Thanks to it's complexity, it's very difficult to get bored with this masterpiece. Moreover, it's a double CD release which means that there's really a lot of music. Some of the songs last about 10 minutes yet they keep a listener focused all the time.
As it was said before, 01011001 is a concept album but each single song is a masterpiece of it's own. There's no point in analysing them because they are really difficult to describe - they need to be experienced, not described.
In my case it's one of the albums that have changed my point of view on music. No matter what you listen to everyday, give Ayreon a chance, it may turn out that there's vast area of music you didn't even expect to exist.

NoLongerHuman have released their first official album. It's enough to look at the booklet to realise that these guys pay attention to details, starting from fancy name and logo. The logo itself is fairly interesting - the dead cricket design might have been inspired by Hocico or Noisuf-X and makes me think of those bands, but is original enough to catch my eye. I hoped that their music was similar in this respect to the logo, that it was akin to the works of great bands but still fresh and attractive. Fortunately I was right. NoLongerHuman play dark electro based on reliable, well-known patterns. Fortunately, even though they failed to create absolutely new quality, the music isn't boring at all. The impression that they care about details didn't leave when I pushed 'play' button. The band managed to build dark atmosphere thanks to samples from movies, harsh vocals and all the stuff we expect from a band with such an antihuman name. This music is cold and sinister- it makes me think of scalpels, lancets and all the toys you'd rather like to observe from a distance.

Actually Hocico and Noisuf-X don't seem to have influenced the authors of 'Antipathy'. The record is closer to the works of Tactical Sekt, Aesthetic Perfection or Supreme Court. It's equally energetic and works equally well both while listened at home and on a dancefloor.
The only drawback of this record is that I can't get rid of an impression that I have heard it all before . Nonetheless, I'm sure that they'll work out their unique style soon. Antipathy is a good album, but I feel that its successor will be even better.

What strikes me most in case of Pulse State is the approach to an audience. As Mike Phipps, the man behind the project says, 'the album is being offered at no charge as a way of saying "thank you" to the fans who have patiently waited for so long'. Sounds awesome, doesn't it?
The review could be ended in this point, as everyone can check the album themselves with no risk, but I'd like to make it clear that this is a very good release. The fact that it's free doesn't mean that it wouldn't be worth paying for. Undoubtedly it would be worth purchasing, as Pulse State seems to be as good as VNV Nation, Code 64 and other appreciated bands. The production is impeccable - it's definitely not low-end product or economy-class journey. Pulse State flies high, among the most notable futurepop bands. Sometimes it sounds like the bands I've already mentioned, sometimes it's close to Assemblage 23, Solitary Experiments and even Seabound. However, such similarities are not always an advantage, as you're rather unlikely to immediately recognise these songs clearly as Pulse State work if you hear it in a club. On the other hand, if you agree that in this genre there isn't much room for innovations, you'll certainly like this release as Pulse State definitely isn't a copycat.

'With a Single Step' consists both of emotional songs (January Love, Reconciliation) and potential club hits (Innocence, Watching Over). It doesn't make the album inconsistent though. Neither the fact that it was recorded in a long period of time does. These 9 tracks make a well-thought entity which would be attractive enough as a traditional release, and as a web release it is absolutely a must for fans of futurepop.

Beyond Sensory Experiment takes us on a journey again. The land (or rather wasteland) we are going to visit is their latest album, "No Lights In Our Eyes". This Swedish duo created another mournful masterpiece.
They do not limit themselves to drones, actually they even do not limit themselves to electronic music. The idea of using acoustic instruments seems to work on "No Lights In Our Eyes" very well. The band does not disregard silence either - the album is minimalist and it does not exclude being very atmospheric. It is enough to close your eyes and you will see dark landscapes painted with gentle, vibrating sounds. It is still dark ambient, but you will hear melodies instead of a wall of noise. The melodies are slow and distorted but they are present anyway. Moreover, they are fairly hypnotising. Virtually every piece on "No Lights In Our Eyes" is enriched with samples from movies. The samples are in various languages, not necessarily English, but I bet that the dominant theme is death and desolation. For example, at the begining of "Long The Night" a girl is saying something in Polish. Her question, translated to English, is: "Why do people die?" and then "What is death?". This is a very accurate illustration of the whole concept of the album.
Do you dare to go through this introspective, a bit dreary but fascinating experience?

When Informatik released samples of their new album, "Beyond", some people were afraid that they follow the path of Apoptygma Berzerk, from EBM to something between synthpop and rock. Fortunately, the album as a whole proves that they did not change their style so much.
They started to use guitars. The guitar is dominant in a couple of songs (for example "As We Lay Silent") which makes them sound "warmer" than before. Those who expected this album to be as synthetic and cold as "Nymphomatik", let alone previous releases, may be disappointed, as it is not so gloomy indeed.
The difference between this and the previous release is visible even in their titles. "Nymphomatik" was sort of automatic, mechanical, while "Beyond" is much more organic. Also, there are no elements of trance music anymore. It may be perceived as drawback as well as an advantage. However, the band found a balance between new and old sound, and "Beyond" is a mixture of songs close to rock music ("As We Lay Silent") and electronic club hits, such as "Simple".

Lyrics have changed too. They are still about human relationships, but there is no trace of despair in them as in the case of "Nymphomatik". The lyrics are more mature and no one is singing that love is not for him anymore, which certainly is good.

If you like Informatik, or futurepop as such, give "Beyond" a try, but be aware that you will face new, less aggresive side of Informatik.