This release will definitely be in the running for album of the year! Here to prove that there is still talent around to be discovered and that electronic music can be more than just the average boom-boom club noise of today, the one-man American outfit, HALO IN REVERSE, fits broadly into the electro/industrial rock genre, mixing trashy guitar with depressive piano rolls, and aggressive intricate electronics, all fused together with Joshua Steffen's raging sexuality and high energy synthesizers.
The music draws on influences as diverse as DEPECHE MODE, PETER GABRIEL, MINISTRY and even ROB ZOMBIE; however, it is with NINE INCH NAILS' early and more aggressive days that HALO IN REVERSE's music is the most easily compared. If obviously following the direction brought by Trent Reznor, Joshua Steffen is definitely doing his own thing, combining emotional melodies with caustic synthesizer and guitar textures, mixing the organic with the synthetic in a mélange that is as enticing as it is aggravating. His most striking and dominant unique characteristic is his passionate and intoxicating voice: strong, decadent, artfully lustrous and dreamy.
On "Trials and Tribulations" Steffen presents the ultimate display of an artist taking his powers to the utmost, focusing on musicianship and solid songwriting, resulting in both great music and strong lyrics. An album that reveals awesome production work and a degree of musicianship seldom seen around these parts, on which the music just flows and influences combine fluidly. An album filled with emotion and the pain that only love can bring us when it is no longer returned. Betrayal, bitterness, depression and sexuality set the scene for this industrial/electro pop-rock chef d'oeuvre of pure sensual intensity. You will play it again, and again, and again... and again until the tears end up flowing... A cleansing experience!
This limited carton box edition contains a bonus disc including five exclusive songs plus eleven alternative versions and remixes of tracks from the album by other artists...
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