Minus All

Imperative Reaction

Metropolis Records 2008

Web: http://www.metropolis-records.com

Minus All by Imperative Reaction a dark, powerful and energetic album which explores the boundaries of electronica, industrial and gothic music with splashes of rock.

Imperative Reaction was formed in 1996, their early albums such as Eulogy For The Sick Child and Ruined received rave reviews. Their ability to mix electronica and dance music with a darker edged sound and fierce vocals have created a quite a unique sound. Influenced by everything from Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson to dance music and gothic and heavy metal, Imperative Reaction has quite a following.

Minus All offers thirteen tracks of driving beat, combining an intoxicating dance floor rhythm with a startling sense of aggression every fury. There is a dark tone to all the lyrics and Ted Phelps has a strong and commanding voice which certainly knows how to hold a melody and yet has a surprising range.

The album opens with the aggressive and heavy “Minus All” and then moves into “Product” which has a far more minimalist electro feel, driven by a strong back beat and Phelps rasping vocals. Other notable tracks are “Functional”, the ultimate dark dance track which has an awesome beat, awesome synth and a superb voice track.

“Panic Cycle” is another great dance track which is a great mixture of electro with a bruising vocal sound, it has a superbly maniac sound, while “In Decline” is a far more depressive and downbeat track using a dance beat to create a more nihilistic mood. Combined with textured synth this is a superbly reflective track. Then we have a rather surprising dark electronic ballad in “You Remain”. Here we find Phelps voice in a very different mode, offering a rather sad and melancholic track.

Minus All is a fascinating album. There is such a confluence of influences from electronica, goth, rock, industrial and dance, which are brought together into a polished and intoxicating mix.