This artist spotlight features one of my all time favorite, Cassetter and his new album: Robot Era.
The album was highly anticipated and features a number of brilliant guest performers who lift the production quality even more.
We start ott with the track Neon Towers 3. It is a more energetic one than its precedessors but we get the gorgeous effects which is a trademark of Cassetter. It features a very pronounced lead and smashing drum kits. The unassuming bridge also turns into part of the song, organically fitting between the verses.
The next track Till The End starts with some smooth pads and electric sounding synths - to turn into something totally different.
A very powerful power synth ballad featuring Maxthor who delivers a very solid singing performance in profressional quality. The soundtrack accompanies the singing so well that it smashes through a few barriers. The solo part shows off the powerful synths the track is built on, with some pleasant effects. It’s filled with a massive amount of energy, even if it’s on the slower side.
The track Diskette could be a pun on the artist himself and since it features LukHash it fits the purpose. We get nicely twisted distortion effects and a lot of strength communicated with drums and leads. Also unmistakably LukHash drops some nicely hidden 8-bit arpeggios and speech synthetizer into the mix! The later nicely arpeggiated lead sequences tame the track down a bit, but just to come back in full power.
Unwanted Guest starts quietly, but the the pluck arpeggio foreshadows something more and before we know it, we’re back to Cassetter-land: quick and powerful drums and well placed leads everywhere. The general feeling of the track is almost like of a horror movie: not sure who the unwanted guest was but at the middle of the track I felt like I am happy I am not the recipient of this visit. The siren at the end also emphasizes: this is not a welcome visit…. but the track is cool, nevertheless.
Virtual Desert also begins as calm. The pads and sub the effects sell this but the screams don’t. This is a slow track, the incoming lead and background synths are nicely reverbed and echoed. The bridge features some nice echoed FM-style synth but also some detuned ones as a gentle reminder that it’s not a dreamland. It’s a surreal virtual trip, also emphasized by the background whispers.
Radioactive Rain begins with a foreshadowing tone which suddenly into a brilliant vocal performance by no other than Megan McDuffee! The track is subtle, Megan totally steals this show. The bridges have the same Cassetter power punch with tricky leads and massive drums. The smooth vocal fills the air and even if the title is anything but pleasant, listening to this track is absolutely fantastic. This track is on the slower side but unstoppably flows out of the speakers.
I reviewed Formula 2080 earlier, here
. It was nice to hear it again on this album.
Introspection is a slower paced and less of a wild ride than the previous ones. Nice solid bass, pretty leads and arpeggios lead to the magnificent vocals delivered by d.notive! A very well crafted baritone, fitting for this song. The lyrics is philosophical, maybe this is why Cassetter chose a more conservatic selection of instruments. We of course still get the effect pack, this time on the vocal as well! This one is a true earworm though.
The next track Maestrobot starts as a relaxed track with nice sweeps, leads and pleasant bass. It also continues with a finely crafted lead with the effects we can’t miss. This is not that face-tearing tour de force we get from the other tracks, this builds up power by so-phistication instead of brute force. Let’s not forget this album is about robots and there are refined high quality bots too who are not about sheer power.
Do you know what 400km/h sounds like? The next track makes an attempt to describe that. It’s not all rush and haste. This is the speed which is already precisely governed and controlled, just like this track. Nicely calculated leads, bass and arpeggios signify that this is the place where everything has to be at the right place at the right time to keep this speed safely.
The next track The Cube takes the ambitious task of presenting the cube. According to Cassetter it has to be done with energy. Nice and atmospheric synths all around, massive bass and drums again all over the place. All in this there is a solid, rigid structure glowing in the middle, emphasized by well timed totally silent pauses.
Through The Lights starts with trance-like effects and also a great singing performance by Danae! The mood keeps up with the dreamy-like appearance, except Cassetter does not let us sleep: the lead and background synths like electric impulses run through the whole track. It does slide away in the bridge, into almost totally trance - except Danae’s voice modulated here before anyone could even think about falling asleep.
The track Unstoppable starts slow, but this is just a diversion. After the intro we’re getting up to speed! This time it is communicated with speed and not sheer power. We still get the wrapping of effects and powerful leads but this also has swift and well placed leads and background synths, twisted into one continuous stream. The arpeggios are woven in later without noticing. There are no slowdown bridges or pauses - except at the very end.
Planet B starts indeed if it was in space. Very atmospheric - then we’re reminded that this is Cassetter-land. Powerful and electric background synths with massive bass and drum joins the mix but the base is still atmospheric. In fact in the bridge this is what we get: the atmospheric connection between two verses. The second part starts with a strong all-cutting synth. The power is increased slowly with more and more sequenced leads and background synths. Interestingly, the base power increases too, we’re getting more and more pads.
Neon Pills also as a relaxed, almost conventional beginning but it has a strong message too, delivered by Voicians! Not only a professional vocal performance but also modulated, vocodered, filtered. Highly integrated into the track which is on medium Cassetter setting, which we got used to by now. Very clever filters, effects everywhere. The plucky bass accompanies very well overall.
Walker is the closing track and this one starts with a huge foreshadowing. Then even more foreshadowing. It’s one of those feelings when you find a tree just to notice it’s not a tree but a leg of a huge creature. In this case we found a building which is part of something bigger. The metallic drums and surrounding background synths and arps draw a dark picture of the Walker. While it’s an insert-your-favorite-walker-reference detail, one thing is certain: this thing is walking and we being present does not make a difference. It’s unstoppable, it’s massive. The slow leads depict the overal visuals while the somewhat faster leads add details. Just as it came, it fades out quickly.
Thiss album is the Cassetter’s most diverse and ambitious effort, pulling influences from various genres.
Robot Era is out now on all platforms from independent retro synth label FiXT Neon. Highly recommended!