{"id":11344,"date":"2018-10-17T20:04:41","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T00:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.altwire.net\/?p=11344"},"modified":"2023-12-06T06:40:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T11:40:14","slug":"album-review-the-anix-shadow-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/album-review-the-anix-shadow-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"[Album Review] The Anix – Shadow_Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

With easily justified comparisons to the likes of early Thirty Seconds to Mars<\/a><\/strong>, flavors of \u0414\u0435\u043f\u0435\u0448 \u041c\u043e\u0434<\/strong>, and a wonderfully prominent influence of \u041b\u0435\u043a\u0430\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e<\/strong> thrown into the mix, \u0410\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0441<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s own brand of ethereal electronic rock has always seemed a project ultimately finding itself in slightly older roots stylistically.<\/p>\n

Sure, frontman and sole member \u0411\u0440\u044d\u043d\u0434\u043e\u043d \u0421\u043c\u0438\u0442<\/a> <\/strong>does of course still fully take advantage of the crisp, clear production values that modern technology allows, and the likes of \u041b\u0443\u043d\u0430\u0442\u0438\u043a<\/em>\u2019s \u2018Resident One\u2019 perhaps being a little more \u0423\u0431\u0438\u0439\u0446\u044b<\/strong> than the album\u2019s cover of Gerard McMahon\/McMann<\/strong>\u2019s \u2018Cry Little Sister\u2019 would have you believe, but in the end \u0410\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0441<\/strong> always seemed to feel best at home in the dripping atmosphere of 80s-90s electronic rock. \u0418\u043b\u043b\u044e\u0437\u0438\u044f \u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0438<\/em> might have had a lot more of the aggressive \u0414\u0435\u0432\u044f\u0442\u0438\u0434\u044e\u0439\u043c\u043e\u0432\u044b\u0435 \u0433\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0434\u0438<\/strong> influence to say about itself, but if a singular song were to be chosen that summarizes the best<\/em> \u0438\u0437 \u0410\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0441<\/strong>\u2019s work, it could easily be \u041b\u0435\u043a\u0430\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e<\/strong>\u2019s \u2018Burn\u2019 (this itself being a delightfully appropriate result, considering that the track was also covered on the secondary \u041b\u0443\u043d\u0430\u0442\u0438\u043a<\/em> disk).<\/p>\n

With this all in mind, being welcomed into the ranks of electronic rock-focused label \u0424\u0438\u0425\u0422 <\/strong>certainly struck as a completely natural move forward to greener pastures: in being surrounded by similarly minded label-mates stylistically, \u0421\u043c\u0438\u0442<\/strong>\u2019s project feels entirely within its comfort zone for a brand new chapter, quickly bringing forward his latest effort, Shadow_Movement.<\/em><\/p>\n

While incorporating an overarching dystopian and cyberpunk theme, and anthemic singles \u2018Fight The Future\u2019 and \u2018This Machine\u2019 already clearly displaying a chosen stylistic direction somewhere between the more rock-orientated \u041b\u0443\u043d\u0430\u0442\u0438\u043a<\/em> and far more electronically-infused 2017 effort \u042d\u0444\u0435\u043c\u0435\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/em>, Shadow_Movement<\/em> immediately kicks things off on a high, with \u0410\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0441<\/strong> feeling plenty prepared to deliver another batch of energized, euphoric electronic rock tracks. Production-wise, it could be argued that this is the best \u0421\u043c\u0438\u0442<\/strong>\u2019s project has ever sounded, be it either due to further growth in personal experience, or experienced label support having had a particularly positive influence throughout the record\u2019s conception: it all sounds crisper, cleaner, and ready to go.<\/p>\n

Continuing onwards, \u2018Open Fire\u2019 immediately stands out as an album highlight, a catchy, piercing guitar melody and \u0421\u043c\u0438\u0442<\/strong>\u2019s crooning vocal performance charging forward triumphantly, while elsewhere the beautifully introduced \u2018Overdrive\u2019 immediately seizes attention: through a trickling, delayed melody and gorgeous atmosphere that washes over the track completely, \u2018Overdrive\u2019 borders on being something of a romantic ballad, yet with sombre undertones rooting things in darker territory: \u201cEvery time I breathe I feel you light my flame\u201d<\/em>\/\u201dnothing else can be as violent as this game.\u201d<\/em> Indeed, much of the album\u2019s lyricism can be similarly compared, keeping in line with \u0421\u043c\u0438\u0442<\/strong>\u2019s established dystopian concept of Shadow_Movement<\/em>, and presenting a generally consistent theme of both desperate hope, yet foreboding wariness throughout a desolate cyberpunk setting:
\n\u201cLonely stranger, who are you?\u201d
\n\u201cInterchanger \u2013 passing through.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

As such, most of Shadow_Movement<\/em> is geared towards the mood of its chosen concept: \u2018Come Back Down\u2019 (while sharing notable similarities to Thirty Seconds to Mars<\/strong>\u2019 \u2018Echelon\u2019 in structure and sound) delivers a competently written offering of hesitancy in the face of possible hope (\u201cI won\u2019t come down, unless you\u2019re bulletproof\u201d<\/em>), and the synth-heavy \u2018Clouds\u2019 could easily insert itself into any cyberpunk soundtrack and feel right at home in doing so (while also leading neatly into the pulsing electronics of \u2018Wasteland\u2019). \u201cI\u2019ve been waiting for you in the night \u2013 that\u2019s the only place I know.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Ultimately, Shadow_Movement<\/em> sounds good. In fact, at times it sounds \u043e\u0447\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/em> good: the instrumental backbone of the album is excellent, the songwriting confidently stands up in the face of \u0421\u043c\u0438\u0442<\/strong>\u2019s ambitious chosen dystopian concept, and vocally \u0421\u043c\u0438\u0442<\/strong>\u2019s range suits the direction of the music. Truthfully, Shadow_Movement<\/em> only suffers on one note: digesting the album\u2019s 15 track odyssey in its entirety.<\/p>\n

You see, in rooting itself so firmly in such an overarching concept, musically this is where a few tracks can start to blur together, losing their identity somewhat in the runtime and being overshadowed by others that better utilize \u043c\u0430\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0438\u0430\u043b<\/a> at hand. As such, the only truthful criticism would perhaps be a simple matter of quantity over quality: in losing 2-3 tracks, and extending 1-2 to incorporate longer instrumental sections, Shadow_Movement<\/em> would feel a far more interconnected and engaging experience, despite the clear ambition seen within the already existing body of work.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, it can\u2019t be denied that \u0410\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0441<\/strong> has delivered another batch of euphoric, electronic rock tracks that perfectly suit \u0421\u043c\u0438\u0442<\/strong>\u2019s stylistic range. It may not be perfect, but as a reintroduction to the project following a restructure of members and moving into a brand new label, Shadow_Movement<\/em> is a commendable effort.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With easily justified comparisons to the likes of early Thirty Seconds to Mars, flavors of Depeche Mode, and a wonderfully … \u0427\u0438\u0442\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0434\u0430\u043b\u0435\u0435<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":11345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1684],"class_list":["post-11344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-the-anix","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}