For the first time that I can recall, we are getting an EP from Scandroid. It’s actually the first piece of a complete LP titled The Darkness and The Light, with the second EP coming in 2019. For now, we have six songs from The Darkness with four of the songs being remixed by some pretty big names in the synthwave world. For those expecting more of the same ol’ Scandroid, prepare for a new direction, albeit one far from the transition of Celldweller’s last two albums.

The album starts off with an instrumental piece that is less than a minute long titled Into the Darkness. It has a very spacey feel at first, and quickly evolves into a more grounded song along the lines of On the Face of the Deep. Honestly, I would expect to hear this during an opening credit roll for a TV show – the length and variation within it is astounding, and the way it finishes after all the buildup is pleasant and unexpected. Listening to the album for the first time, you may expect a calm transition from this opening, but what comes next is a heavy smattering of metal riffs showered in synths. I could see this taking the place of a montage song in a movie – it has a similar vibe to Paul Engemann’s Push It to the Limit. The guitar has obscene jam sessions throughout, perpetuating the 80s feel if there was any concern of it sounding strictly modern. This stands out far from any previous song Scandroid has done, and is certainly a welcome direction given the Miami feel.

After such a heavy track we delve back into a more synth heavy song, The End of Time. It starts off a bit creepy but quickly picks up only to be slowed down by the overarching guttural voiceover of Klayton. The song speeds up again once his voice does. Around the halfway mark the song slows way down, with the sound completely changing; the song breaks into chunks opposed to a steady stream of content. This sound doesn’t last too long, although the pace of the singing does. About 3/4 of the way through you’ll get the synth solo that you’ve been waiting for, with some singing underscoring the whole thing, letting the instrumental portion take priority. It ends with mention of the full album name that is yet to come. After this we get Onyx, which is probably overall the slowest song showcased here. It’s also probably the least interesting, as nothing out of the ordinary really happens. A little over halfway through it speeds up, but your enjoyment is highly dependent on how much you like the same five notes that are played over and over.

The second to last song before the remixes is Red Planet; this takes a page from the instrumental pieces I loved from the previous albums and mixes in some chanting about the planet itself over and over. This is probably the closest song to the intro, and I wonder if Into the Darkness was partially derived from this, or vice versa. It’s a very atmospheric song, and changes often enough to keep it interesting through its entire run time. The album fittingly ends with Out of the Darkness, which is almost the inverse of the intro’s sound. The tones trend upward, giving a sense of hope and tranquility opposed to the never-ending despair and aura of mystery when starting out. It almost feels like the song was split in two pieces and used as bookends for the other four songs.

Following the six songs are four remixes, provided by Volkor X, 3FORCE, Hexenkraft, and Lazerpunk. Phoenix is less about being flamboyant and more about having that heavy metal feel; it sounds like a much more serious song in the remix. That is, until the end when it goes balls to the wall with the guitar solos which were missing from the rest of it – pretty much all the guitar sections are thrown in at the end. The End of Time’s remix goes for a much bigger sound overall, and almost reminds me of the likes of Pendulum. Despite the bombastic take on this, 3FORCE isn’t afraid to strip away everything to focus on the vocal track either, which is soon contrasted with the booming sound once again.

Hexenkraft’s take on Onyx has a buildup that reminds me of something Hans Zimmerman would do. The voice in this is obstructed heavily and used more as an instrument than for lyrics. This is hardly an issue, as the lyrics themselves are not nearly as important to the overall structure as they were for the debut album. The structure follows the original very closely, having a slow beginning and picking up just after the halfway point. The Red Planet remix from Lazerpunk is interesting, as it takes away a lot of what I love about the original but adds in some fun takes (I’ve listened to a few of Lazerpunk’s remixes and songs, and I’m not sure if it’s a signature move, but the classic cartoon/movie laser sound was a fun touch) on the overall sound. I prefer the original to this remix, but it’s distortion of the vocals compliments the rest of the more harsh sound the song presents.

EPs can be a hard sell, as they may only have one song you actually care about (perhaps the single) while the rest seems like filler. With just a few songs excluding the remixes, they need to pack a punch. Luckily, the majority of The Darkness ends up being solid, assuming you’re okay with an era-specific sound that hasn’t been touched on too much by Scandroid already. I’m interested to see the direction that The Light takes and compare the two to see how they complement one another.

8 out of 10

Pros

• Atmospheric
• New Sound Direction
• Instrumental Pieces Shine

Cons

• Lackluster Lyrics
• Overly Repetitive Portions

The Darkness was created by Scandroid under the FiXT label. It was made available to pre-order November 20th, 2018, and will be available on December 4th, 2018. The album was provided to us for review. If you’d like to see more of Scandroid, check out the associated FiXT page.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth your time, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great album that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate music, please let us know.

Check out OpenCritic for a better idea of how our review stacks against others.