seven

well, it seems that by this time everyone has bought at least one copy of this cd (not including those that could not help buying it for their friends and friends of their friends); now when mass hysteria has calmed down and most of the lucky fans can see clearly, I feel that this disk should get the mention it deserves.

"dark angel" and "empires" together with us tour took the country by storm in 1999, and a lot of "casual" club-goers and "casual" scene followers eagerly embraced this easily available vnv nation (especially since covenant with their latest release has freed this niche).

I will leave behind the whining of snobbish purists ("there's more out there! you can't claim this to be the cd of the year!") and those all-disassembling musicians ("this is unoriginal! this sound is done with one key pressed!") and try to approach the music itself.

I cannot see how anyone can deny the charm and purity of the music presented on this double cd. elegant and simple sound, graceful catchy melodies, the vocals full of heroic pathos and noble purity - all those are the variables in the successful formula used by the band on all their albums. no matter what is said about the band, no matter how self-copying the sound seems to be, the power of this release will easily stand up to that.

melancholic grace of "further" with its warm melody, almost militant version of "legion", dancefloor-stomper "savior" and stripped-down version of "fragments" trade places with epic "anachron" version of "legion" and light floating "standing (still)". "motion" version of "standing" is a killer straightforward techno track - driving and fast-paced. "radious^2" is one of my personal favorites here - almost trance-like jumpy sound devoid of vocals floats effortlessly and breaks out into a powerful clean club hit.

humming beginning of "lastlight" reminded me of pan sonic, but soon enough synths joined the track together with nice minimal percussion. this turned out to be one of the biggest surprises and most interesting tracks on the cd; a combination of precise minimal percussion, drops of breakbeats, and transparent synths creates an interesting edge that vnv nation never possessed before.

approach this release with open mind and do not play it too many times in a row so that the similarities of every track will not plague your vision. this way you would enjoy it every time you play it.