Pendulum - In Silico Review
Posted by Dan Marsicano on 05.13.2008
Austrailian drum and bass band Pendulum has hit American shore with In Silico. Will the added rock elements to their trademark sound help to make the band stand out on these shores?
The Band
Rob Swire- Vocals, Synthesizer
Gareth McGrillen- Bass Guitar, DJ
Perry ap Gwynedd- Guitar
Paul 'El Hornet' Harding- DJ
Kodish-Drums
The Track Listing
1. Showdown-5:27
2. Different-5:51
3. Propane Nightmares-5:13
4. Visions-5:36
5. Midnight Runner-6:55
6. The Other Side-5:15
7. Mutiny-5:06
8. 9,000 Miles-6:26
9. Granite-4:41
10. The Tempest-7:27
The Review
Pendulum is an Australian drum and bass(for those unaware, fast dance beats and heavy bass lines) band that dabbles with rock and electronica elements. The band relocated to the UK in 2003 and has made quite an impact among dance fans with their first album Hold Your Colour, which was the highest selling drum and bass album of all time. Now, in 2008, they hit American shores with In Silico. The album is a bit of a departure for the band, as they add in more rock influences to make a sound that blends Linkin Park, Muse, Tool, and dance music to create one of the more unique albums to hit these shores in a while.
The album starts off with “Showdown,” which is like an electronica version of an old White Stripes song. It’s an energetic opener that is geared towards dance fans, with a heavy use of the drum and bass sound the band is known for overseas. “Showdown” is also largely instrumental, with the vocals disappearing around the minute mark and not making a return. The song is basically perfect dancing music for those Friday nights at the club.
I mentioned the rock elements, and they don’t make much of an appearance in the first half of the album. Only in current single “Propane Nightmares” does Pendulum sound like a good old-fashion rock band. The song is immediately catchy and has a great chorus to back it up. It’ll get stuck in your head, trust me; as I write this, I find myself humming the main synthesizer/bass line that drives the verses.
The first half is the weaker portion of the album, in my mind. The drum and bass elements are too heavily used and the songs seem to drag on at times. The band just seems to be concerned with making good dance beats instead of structuring songs that would make it enjoyable to listen to anytime.
The second half kicks up the rock a little bit and has the band experimenting with their sound to achieve a more varied and exhilarating listen. “Mutiny” brings the funk on with some groovy bass lines and even a guitar solo. Well, a guitar solo that has added electronic effects on it, but a solo none the less. It surprised me the first time I heard it, but not as much as the next track, “9,000 Miles,” did. The band utilizes acoustic guitars to provide a solid backdrop for the drum and bass elements. I never though acoustic guitars and drum and bass could coexist, but Pendulum proves me wrong.
The closing track, “The Tempest,” is the most progressive song on In Silico. Acoustic drums, upfront clean vocals, and clean electric guitar highlight the first half of the song, before driving it home with a two minute strictly drum and bass/electronica outro that is as appropriate of a ending as I have ever heard.
In Silico only has a few noticeable flaws, some that even diehard drum and bass fans might find. If you look at the track listing, you will notice that most of the songs are over five minutes long. The thing is, most of the songs don’t need to be that long. The band just repeats beats and melodies over and over again. It gets very repetitive at times, especially in “9,000 Miles” and “Midnight Runner.” If the band fine tuned the songs, and cut some unnecessary sections off, I think that it would have been a more satisfying listen. The lyrics are also nothing to write home about, but then again, this is a drum and bass album, so I guess lyrics don’t matter much.
Even with these few flaws, the album surprised me, as I am not a fan of drum and bass/electronica music. However, I like to keep an open mind, being a music critic, and Pendulum really impressed me. No, I won’t go out and buy an album from some random DJ anytime soon, but Pendulum was able to incorporate enough rock elements to keep my attention the whole hour. Even the drum and bass songs didn’t get on my nerves as much as I thought they would. If the band trimmed the fat off of some of the songs, it could’ve been a much more coherent and cohesive listening experience. Most of you won’t care though; fans of drum and bass/electronica will love this album. Everybody else, give a few tracks a listen (“Propane Nightmares,” “The Tempest,” “Mutiny") and see if In Silico might be the album for you.
The 411: Pendulum has come out with an album that will please fans of drum and bass and dance music. However, the surprising thing about In Silico is that it appeals to rock fans as well. As long as your have an open mind to different genres of music, and don't mind songs with a dance feel to them, then In Silico might be your album. I think this could have been a smashing success if it wasn't for the repetitive nature of the songs and the length. If the band trimmed about ten minutes off the album (which they could have easily done), then In Silico could have been a more satisfying listen. Instead, its a decent album to introduce the band to these shores.
disagree entirely with your review- pendulum have gone from one of the best drum n' bass acts in the world to just another dance act trying to make it big with the masses. Where once their songs were long and intricately produced they now drag on with repetitive cheesy synth lines that are annoying by the time the song ends- every song is trying to be a radio single and for that reason none succeed.
Posted By: brewhaus (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 01:25 AM
Its Drum and Bass not Bass and Drum!!!
Posted By: Guest#4880 (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 07:59 AM
Two points, first and foremost...
brewhaus = cock
Secondly, awsome progressive album. Midnight runner is fantastic and the last 1/4 is awsome.
Each to their own, but point one still stands :P
Posted By: Alex (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 09:57 AM
I have to agree with brewhaus. All the songs sound as if they tried to hit the masses but for people like who liked Pendulum for their nu-dnb style will be very disapointed. I usually love rock and drum'n'bass even more but the guys from Perth just glued those two genres together in In Silico without any passion. They already proved that they can do it right with Blood Sugar on Hold Your Colour (2007) but as I said - they messed up big time on their new album.
Even if it sounds weird: I hope they don't have much success with this album so they don't think that their new style is better than the old one.
Posted By: sniggedi (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 03:24 PM
Have to agree with brewhaus. I am from London and remember when Pendulum first started releasing tunes, and they used to be great. Hold Your Colour is a great album. I also saw them live at Fabric when they first introduced the live sound and they rocked the place. However their lyrics are weak at best and often overshadow the music, which isn't really what Drum and Bass is about. Of the new album I only really liked Showdown, as it's one of the only tracks that remind me of the classic Pendulum sound. I also don't feel the new album does enough to convert any rock fans, although I recommend going to see them live, just hope if you see them they play more old stuff than new.
It's a shame though, I really wanted their new album to be great, but it's far from it. If you want to listen to some quality drum and bass i suggest you check out Sub Focus
Posted By: Basshead (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 03:37 PM
good point basshead- also check out Shapeshifter hailing from NZ if you want to hear a great band do drum n' bass well, with feeling- they're fantastic live too :D
Posted By: brewhaus (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 09:35 PM
track 3 - Propane Nightmares. Is it just me or is there a sample of ATB- Million miles. Please email me if you know or think it is.. mrdnet@westnet.com.au
Posted By: David Garrett (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 04:10 AM
Dune - million miles... EDIT :)
Posted By: David Garrett (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 04:16 AM
Im no fanboy, but Pendulum have just created their own genre of music. I can listen to the new album, In Silico, ten times over and more is revealed to me in the labyrinthine sound that is Pendulum. No, they're no longer the greatest Drum n' Bass musicians ever; but instead have cultivated a new sound that in my opinon could start a culture.
Posted By: Guest (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 03:55 PM
Pretty much agree, it is a brilliant album, however your review smacks of a lack of understanding of the genre... Pendulum were by no means the first to use acoustic guitar in drum and bass, so your point is irrelevant.
Also, a tip with listening to drum & bass, for the reviewer, it's not just an endlessly repeating bassline and loop, try to listen for the extra parts added, there is ALWAYS variation, you just need to learn how to appreciate it!
Cheers.
Posted By: Ang! (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 06:37 PM
I like to thank everybody who has left a comment about my review.
I want to address some criticisms regarding my understanding of the drum n' bass genre. Yes, my understanding is a bit limited, but I am a music critic. I like to keep an open mind to different genres of music. I have heard drum n' bass before and was left unimpressed with it. Pendulum was able to keep my interest for a whole hour by using rock elements. So that why I gave it the rating I did. So I will probably review more drum n' bass albums in the future and hopefully grow to enjoy this genre of music even more.
BTW, Ang!, I know that the music is more than the same beats over and over again. However, to me, even with slight variations, its still repetitive. Like you said, maybe I need to appreciate the variation better. That grows with time though. For now, I'm sticking with my thoughts in this review. In the future, maybe I will change it, depending on how I feel.
Thanks again to all your feedback, both good and bad!
Posted By: Dan Marsicano (Registered) on May 15, 2008 at 12:01 AM
"guest"- pendulum have not created their own genre of music, or style- check infected mushroom's 2006(?) release Vicious Delicious, the've done the crossover electronic/rock thing already (and with awesome effect, guitar solos beat pithy vocals every time :-) )
Posted By: brehaus (Guest) on May 15, 2008 at 12:13 AM
... if you want good drum & bass check evol intent's album "era of diversion" or even the artists spor, apex, ewun, limewax, misha, or audio. pendulum is pendulum, and they'll do what they wanna do, like anybody that decides to be a band instead of just a one-genre producing machine ;)
neurofunk/darkstep ftw.
Posted By: aux (Guest) on May 19, 2008 at 08:09 AM
wow the future of pop n bass looks really promising.
Posted By: danny j (Guest) on May 19, 2008 at 04:46 PM
I'm no fan of the new album, but good luck to them, I don't go with the whole sell out theory. Nobody said Pendulum had to make DnB for the rest of their careers. The album is woeful though, nothing to touch the better tracks on HYC. Whoever told the singer he could (a) write lyrics and (b) he could sing, should be put out of their misery asap. I reckon it will make them a fair few quid, especially if they keep performing the old tracks when they play live.
I agree with other posters on quality dnb acts, I'd also add Concord Dawn from NZ to the list.
If anyone from Pendulum reads this (yeah, right!), I hope you make a shitload out of the album, I really do. Please don't sing on the follow up though.
Posted By: Guest Who (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 07:17 PM
I for one think it's awesome. Nothing like hold your colour at all, but I love that album and I love this. It must have been a difficult decision for a very successful drum'n'bass group to change their sound so radically, and risk causing a large part of their fanbase to dismiss the album, but they had the guts and good on them. The impression I get, is that this is what the group want to do, rather than what they think is expected of them.
So if like me you love this album, introduce as many people to it as you can.
And if you don't like it, don't listen to it.
Posted By: parsons (Guest) on May 31, 2008 at 04:46 AM
The review pretty much its the nail on the head for me, especially with "The Tempest" - so "unpendulum" but they make it work - I'd like to add that drum and bass outro at the end of the tempest sounded like soemthing off of Hold Your Colour XD
hopefully they don't dwell any further with the rock/electronica though, I think they'd spoil the Drum and Bass sound of they did, and that is, primarily why the mjority of pendulum fans, are pendulum fans :]
Posted By: Matty (Guest) on May 31, 2008 at 05:17 AM
After some weeks and a lot of weed I have changed my oppinion. It is a pretty good album, but as in my case, you've gotta listen to it over and over again to begin to like it.
Conclusion: marijuana + time + In Silico > In Silico
Posted By: sniggedi (Guest) on June 04, 2008 at 09:05 PM
