If you said "yes" to any of the above questions, Android Lust's Crater Vol. 1 is the album for you.
(Property of Android Lust, used with permission)
[Tracks] - [Time]
1. My Kingdom for a God - 3:44
2. Vereor - 3:01
3. Water Whispers - 4:38
4. I Need to Know - 4:47
5. From the Other Side - 4:11
6. First Man - 2:02
7. When the Rains Came - 5:27
8. Yaakuntik - 1:00
9. Here and Now - 4:15
10. Precipice - 8:05
I hope you're a nature lover, because this album is going to make you feel like you're surrounded by it most of the time. This is not the cold kind of industrial that makes you feel like you're in a jungle of steel, but rather, this is warm throughout. It makes you feel like you're one with the Earth.
The opening song, "My Kingdom for a God", is solid. To be perfectly honest, the piano is downright creepy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. This is the kind of song that would have felt right at home in a Parasite Eve game, because the mix of the piano, scratchy electronic background beat, and faint, almost ghostly vocal track in the middle to end gives the sense of desolation in a place where there was life. This really sets the tone for the rest of the album, which shows almost a forced sense of nature for the listener. You're not surrounded by nature because this is a happy weekend camping trip; you're surrounded by nature because everything just got obliterated around you and turned into nature.
"Vereor" sounds like the theme for someone walking across a barren wasteland. The raspy beat juxtaposed with the flowing melody and occasional piano bits makes for the feeling that you're just walking with no direction other than to not find your final resting place. It feels bleak and hopeless, like what is necessary to endure to survive.
As for "Water Whispers", remember when I asked if you liked water? Here's the first of multiple "water songs" in this album. The entire song is primarily made up of the noises of dripping and running water mixed with traditionally Middle Eastern instruments, mild chorus-like vocals, and electronic percussion. Let it be known to the world that Shikhee knows how to utilize the sounds of water to their fullest extent in her music. I'm not entirely sure if this is supposed to be related to the other two songs in the sense of being part of linear storytelling, but I just enjoy this song because it sounds incredibly relaxing. Perhaps the idea is that the hero or heroine is resting for the night.
The next two songs feel kind of like asides, as if the addition of vocals is supposed to make us stop and listen for something in particular. I think "I Need to Know" is a song about questioning if a relationship is going to go the distance. It's melancholy and conveys doubt throughout. The song does feel like a frozen moment though in an album that had been previously focused on movement. As for "From the Other Side", there is clear and obvious despair over a current situation with the periodic assertion that "there must be another way". This song kind of splits the album into two halves from the world of collapse and desolation in the first half to the world of acceptance and rebuilding in the second half.
"From the Other Side" doesn't have a fade at the end and goes directly into "First Man", which sounds like the noise of an engine firing up and then goes into harsh industrial noise and symphonic horns, almost reminiscent of commercials for sci-fi films involving extraterrestrials. This does feel like the first glimmer of hope in the whole album though for our hero or heroine who doesn't want civilization to collapse.
Our second water song for the album is "When the Rains Come", which -- I'll give you three guesses -- utilizes the noise of falling rain throughout, particularly in the first half. If some TV show about wildlife had a major special, I'd instantly recommend this song for a montage. This is the song where you can just picture a video of all the vegetation regrowing and the fauna starting to come back. The melody that's created by what sounds like a softened electronic xylophone in the second half of the song completely nails it for the song's mood. This is probably tied for my favorite song on the album with the first, "My Kingdom for a God".
The single-minute "Yaakuntik" gives me kind of the same feelings that "Water Whispers" does, except this is a more peaceful, less stressed respite. The sitar really does it for me. Also, even though this is a short song, I think this is meant to be a stand-alone. It's not like "First Man", which was meant to be closely related to "From the Other Side".
"Here and Now" is the third and final song in the album where Shikhee's vocals shine. She talks about a choice that is simple and necessary. In regard to what the choice is, I think it may be left open to interpretation, but I think it has something to do with the healing process from trauma suffered. Within a grander narrative of the world's destruction, there could be a choices in regard to how to rebuild and bring Earth back to its former glory. From a more micro-level narrative of personal trauma, such as the relationship Shikhee mentions in "I Need to Know", this could be her choice on whether or not she is going to break up with her significant other. Either way, this is probably the most sultry song of the album.
Finally, the eight-minute-plus "Precipice" is the last of the water songs. Trickling creek noises and wind blowing opens the song for about a minute and a half until the piano comes in once again to give us that real epilogue feeling. Afterward, we get a little bit of cymbal action going with the trickling water keeping up with the beat as opposed to just providing ambiance. After over halfway through though, we go back to the soft noise of weather and nature, and I feel that brings the song through to the end on the necessary note. We're rebuilding the world slowly after something catastrophic. The song shouldn't convey the rise of a stunning metropolis, but rather the quiet of slow, steady progress. It's supposed to be peaceful, and that's exactly what we get.
All in all, this album has everything you could possibly ask for in an Android Lust release. It has beautiful instrumentals. It has a little bit of Shikhee's wonderful voice. It tells a great story. And it has water. Lots of water. If you want to experience lots of water and other stuff, Crater Vol. 1 comes out January 29, 2013!
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