MORTAL - Deco
Songs: 7  Time:  57:46
Mortal’s Deco is the debut release on the new WESTCOM sub-label, I.S.D.N.  Whereas the other WESTCOM labels deal with hard, dance electro (Off Beat) or synth-pop (Visage), I.S.D.N. follows the current trend of intelligent electronic dance music.  Initially the sound of Mortal was described to me as being similar to Future Sound of London.  While I do hear some similarities, I also hear richer textures, more intricate sequences, and a better developed rhythm / percussion section.  Heavy, resonating rhythms, snippets of middle Eastern chants, a high-pitched, wavering, spaced-out sequences, and a solid, wet beat all wind together on Moroccan Dip.  This is an extremely intriguing piece which balances itself between ambient and IDM.  The near ten minute Rouen begins slowly with some spacey synth lines and a distant horn sound.  Once the beat kicks in, look out!  Alien trip-hop meets experimental.  ‘How ya doin’? Nice to meet ya. Let’s screw with the tech-heads.’  This piece is so utterly amazing that it blows away any inkling of a notion that I had about Mortal’s sound.  I’d recommend keeping this track on repeat, but then you’d miss the rest of the CD.  Minus One starts off as a funky, jazzed up techno piece that I imagine could be played in the background of a futuristic beatnik coffee house.  There isn’t as much diversity in this piece as the others, but the sound that Mortal have created is enough to carry us through to the nest piece.  Mentor: Low Flying would be the perfect track to play in your retrorocket as you cruise thorough space on your way home after a long days work.  The subtle beat works well with the mild 303 sounds and cascading sequences.  The funk returns on Test Drive (Autobahnana).  A staticy, funky beat is aligned with a harsh, pulsating rhythm and squeaky sequences until it is no longer recognizable as a funk-styled beat.  On this piece innovative elements are constantly added into the mix, piling on top of one another creating a fast paced mixture of IDM, EBM, techno, and ambient.  Almost Lassigue Bendthaus-ie in nature.  Sampled sounds from the Autobahn act as a segue into Chrysler; a less aggressive piece that relies on the atmospheric sequences, peculiar / space-type sounds and textural percussion.  Again, as the track progresses, new sounds are added so the piece never has a chance to go stale.  The final track, Luxor, utilizes a trippy beat, fierce / wet rhythms, twisted samples, and pulsating sequences.  What a way to round out an absolutely amazing CD.  Usually I can narrow down a time frame for when the perfect part of the days is to listen to a particular disc, but Deco stumps me.  It has the power to be played in a club, the intensity to be played in the car, and all the subtleties that are required to be played late at night.  If there is a such thing as hard ambient, than Mortal are tops of that category.  If there is no such genre, than Mortal have stumbled onto something new.  Watch this band!
    
I.S.D.N.
Horster Strasse 27
45897 Gelsenkirchen-Buer
Germany