COVENANT - Northern Light

Covenant are members of the old Swedish SynthPoP Scene. They started in 1993 with their debut album "Dreams Of A Cryotank" and they heralded world-wide attention. They are especially favored by the fans of harder EBM music.
With "Northern Light" they obtained a direct hit. Dark sound/melodies built on a hard bass foundation and complemented by a rather monotonous singing creates a unique atmosphere. Thereby Covenant truly understand how to mix conventional synthie-sounds with 'trance' melodies and techno-beats. Really, it isn't an awful genre-mix, it is a great unique style.
The only weakness I found is the singing. It is always monotonous and sounds very dark. In my opinion a little bit more drive and melody in the singing wouldn't do any harm and could make some songs true dance hits. On the other hand, people who know Covenant, would argue this and would feel it as an insult.

On the whole "Northern Light" is an excellent album, that leads into the mysterious world of SynthPoP with hard beats and dark melodies. Tip: Play loud!!!

Unfortunately the album comes with a copy-protection that does not allow to play the CDs on PC-DVD or -CD players. The CD makes also troubles on stand-alone players. Well, protection of an artist's work is a must but only with a mechanism that does not create any troubles. It's not the consumer's job to be a beta-tester for the music companies.

mesh - FRAGMENTE 2

This is the second compilation by Mesh which seamlessly clings to "Fragmente" which was released in April 1998. It is a 2CD compilation that includes lots of remixes, B-sides we know from Maxi-CDs and also 2 tracks from the Original 91 -93 album. As most people know, it really does not include some previous unreleased or new songs, but it comes with new remixes of the songs "Time Enough" and "Safe With Me"! Well, it is really a great compilation that represents the work of Mesh during the last 4 years and before. Unfortunately it does not include any songs or new versions of the new album "Who Watches Over Me?".

For people who do not know Mesh, it is a great chance to get in touch with their music. Real Mesh fans, who already have all releases, will enjoy a great selection of their music on 2 CDs!

FR/ACTION - CRIMES OF THE FUTURE (reviewed by apoptygma10, aka Mariano Lozano and Synthie)

Fraction is the project of a single person, who is influenced by crimes and heroic deeds of people. The album starts with an instrumental song that deals with vigilantes. It is a song ready to receive play in any club and invites the audience to dance with wild abandon. The lyrics are about thieves, crime and the existence of guardians who watch over us. When listening to the songs, I really felt originality in some lyrics. Lots of bands of this genre sing about depression, the dark etc. I believe that Fr/action tries to point out hope and peace in a world without thieves and murderers.
In general, Fraction it is a mixture of Apoptygma Berzerk and VNV-Nation decorated with a singing that sounds like Kraftwerk. The songs are made of well-tried ingredients: Fr/action always creates a solid architecture based on dry drums and a forward-pushing beat. He complements this solid base with conventional melodies and sometimes hard sounds (very fm-sounding) combined with distorted 'robot-like' singing. The songs are consistent in sound and quality and I am sure that the listener will not lose all interest in this release. Anyway, my advice is to listen to the songs three or four times, as maybe you will not accept the alienated voices the first time. But later after a few listens you will be accustomed to the unusual singing and the music will enchant you.

STRANGE LOVE - SYNTH POP REMIXED VOLUME 1 (Compilation)

"Strange Love" is presenting the Compilation "Synth PoP Remixed Vol.". It includes remixes of Neuroticfish, Diorama, Count To Infinity, Psyche, Melotron, Neuropa and many more.
Some keen collectors of SynthPoP stuff will be a little bit disappointed, as they will already have the most songs as maxi singles or on earlier compilations. Furthermore it does not include exclusive remixes and some songs are from 2000, just like "Thief" by Camouflage.

Well, enough criticism. The combination of songs is well down, as it covers a wide spectrum of electronic music, that begins with classic SynthPoP and ends with EBM / FuturePoP. Primarily DJs will enjoy this compilation, as it includes some excellent remixes, which are best suited for dancefloor.

"Synth PoP Remixed" is a well done compilation for people, who want to get in touch or just like to test SynthPoP music.