Album Review: I:Scintilla - Swayed

In all the time I have been writing about music, I don't know if I have ever covered an album that included the word 'industrial' in the accompanying description. There have been opportunities, I know for sure, but I can't recall ever taking up any of them. I am one of those people who appreciates the organic elements of music. I love the sounds of instruments as they are, and the idea of listening to processed or programmed drums as a centerpiece of the proceedings is not something I have ever looked forward to. There are, by my estimation, two kinds of music listeners; fans of melody and fans of rhythm. I am almost entirely in the first category, which makes these kinds of projects difficult for me, at best.

Listening to I:Scintilla on this record, I'm not sure why they remind us of a past that is no longer the present. This album sees the band moving towards more organic sounds, reducing the programming and samples to small segments in the background, while natural drums power most of the compositions. And when the guitars aren't grinding through songs, as they often don't, there is barely a hint of industrial to the record. Putting that word in my head may create a false scenario where I am holding the record to a standard that shouldn't apply.

There are places where their past creeps up, most notably in "Boxing Glove", where the song is a slow and pounding number that is the dirty, grimy underbelly of a hulking machine. By that nature, it is also one of the least interesting songs here, because it gives Brittany Bindrim less room to work with that most of the others. She is able to bring some real melody to "Carmen Satura", the track that convinced me I should give the record a chance. That is a sound that works, where the heavy rhythms are still dominant, but there is a balance with her voice and melodies that should appeal to all sides.

But as the album unfolds, it is a sound I'm not sure the band is fully committed to. Often, there is a sense they are holding back, unsure if they can or should move further away from industrial. I can't answer that question, since they never go far enough to see what they are capable of as a band without limits, but I can say that trying to straddle the fence seldom leads to rewards as satisfying as if you stay on either side.

There are some lovely melodies here, like in "Nothing But Recordings", but not enough of them to fill out the record. This is a transitional point, and like when you crest a hill at freeway speeds, there's a split second where you feel your stomach rise up into your chest. That's where we are here, since it's never clear whether the band is going to pull the trick off or not. While I appreciate them trying something new, and moving to make their music more human, I don't think there has been enough development of their songwriting to match what the production is aiming for.

That leaves "Swayed" as one of those albums stuck in the middle, where both fans of where the band has been and where the band may ultimately wind up will both be both intrigued and disappointed at the same time. If a new act in their career is opening, this is merely setting the scene. It might be interesting, but it isn't captivating.