Neon Insect – “Glitches” Album Review (ebm/industrial)

From Hanover, Germany comes an ebm/industrial artist whose diversity in musical style rivals the width of the Black Forest. We are thrilled to review Glitches; the new release from Neon Insect due out in mid-February.

Nils Sinatsch is the multi-talented mastermind behind Neon Insect. He is also an audio engineer and sound designer whose writing credits include radio plays, independent movies and video games; perhaps most notably “Abatron” from W3Studios.

From Neon Insect’s press release: ““Glitches” – an ode to imperfection and errors that set apart. While we all strive for flawlessness and mass compatibility, a glitch is the cause of uniqueness.”

Glitches consists of eight tracks although the digital release arrives with a bonus track and the cassette release contains three separate bonus tracks 2 of which are not available elsewhere. Not one single song on the album sounds like the next. They are all equally identifiable by their own nuances. This is not mindless or simply visceral ebm suited for the dancefloor.

What we have with Glitches is an extremely thought-provoking product which stylistically ranges from darkwave to ebm to industrial and from the 80s to the present day. Herein we find influences from Skinny Puppy to Alan Wilder to Aphex Twin. We even find a guest appearance from the one and only Claus Larsen from Leaether Strip. We hear traces of German artists like Plastic Noise Experience and Kraftwerk as well. So Neon Insect is clearly mindful of the electro-musical work of his homeland while extending his interests beyond the borders of Germany.

Tracks like “Sneaky” and “Grey Hat” show stylistic examples of his independent film score side. However, the lead track, “Thoughtcrimes” pretty much sums up everything Neon Insect is capable of, is interested in and is influenced by. It’s a somewhat complex track that has nuances of glitches and video game “blips,” vocals, samples and refreshingly non-traditional ebm/industrial beats. A great lead-in track indeed.

What has me particularly excited about Neon Insect is not simply what you will see or hear but what you, the listener won’t. On a personal/reviewer note, out of the hundreds of releases I have heard, I could count on one hand those who show such a high level of professionalism by being thorough with their submission materials. In this case, Neon Insect left no stone un-turned. If I’m not personally responsible for a significant increase in their success, then someone better be.

Glitches will be available as a limited edition cassette tape as well as a digital download. Release date is February 16.

http://www.neon-insect.de/
https://www.facebook.com/neoninsect/
https://neoninsect.bandcamp.com/