Immersion

OK, here's the situation. Immersion isn't bad. It's not great, but by no means is it bad. It's bold and daring with its mix of genres, although in places it feels very lazy. It's OK to listen to, but that's all it is. It does not blow me away. Earlier Pendulum tracks are still reverberating around my head years later, but 1 hour after listening to this CD I can't recall a single note. It's forgettable, but pleasant listening.

The problem isn't the lacklusture tunes, because some of them are actually growers. The problem isn't the overly heavy metal theme, or the feeling that you're listening to a Metallica album for certain tracks. The problem isn't the dodgy lyrics or pointless guest vocalists. Nor is the problem the shallow production with weak bass throughout.

The real problem is that it's just not possible for any Pendulum album to be as good as Hold Your Colour. Their descent into more rocky / punk territory should have ended with In Silico, but with Immersion they've told the world: Those days are gone. Kiss goodbye to the dancey, synthy drum'n'bass gorgeousness of old. Pendulum have got their guitars out and they ain't putting them away any time soon.

Fans of this trashy, punky sound, will love it. The rest of us will always feel disappointed that Pendulum no longer hold their colour.

Pendulum have once again proved that although bands like Chase and Status are up and coming artists, they are STILL the band of the moment in the dance/rock world.

Immersion is at once head-thrashingly rocking and and great to actually listen to. Collaborations with Liam Howlett and In Flames stand out, and while some of the electronic noises on the album are rather simplistic, they switch, vary and keep you guessing at every turn.

Track to track, there are some real showstoppers. As soon as you recover from the brass crescendo of Watercolour, you'll get the thrashing rocking sounds of Crush, with lead vocalist Rob Swire on outstanding form once again. Under The Waves will make you feel like you're the lead character in a 90s amiga video game-gloriously simple but energetic at the same time. And The Vulture will have you humming the electronic riff over and over again.

An album where electroinca, rock and drum & bass always collide but never clash, Immersion is a homage to two different genres, the world of electric brilliance, and the world where you jump around like a lunatic to the sound of electric gutiars set to drum and bass rhythms. It's extreme in every sense, but there is rock, dance, drum & bass and even a little bit of dubstep-variety to suit every palate. Pendulum have learnt more and more with each album; Hold Your Colour was good but one sided, In Silico brought out the rock element in perfect harmony with the drum & bass. Immersion is a work of art bringing in all that is good in energetic music, and cranking it up like only Rob Swire and the rest of Pendulum can. Absolutely awesome.

In my opinion this is their best album yet. Its a lot more varied and covers more genres but instead of just touching on them it does a good job of giving you a top track from the ones it explores, be it dubstep or electro death metal. All the tracks are great and the extended version of watercolour just seems so much better with the longer build up which it has in the album version.
If had to pick my least favourite song it would be 'Salt In The Wounds', this is purely because of the lack of vocals and to me it goes on for about 2 minutes longer than it probably should and gets a bit repetative but with that said its still a decent track.
Its hard to pick a fovourite from the whole album but if I had to I would say that my fav was 'Set Me On Fire' but all the tracks are really good.
As i said before in my opinion this is their best album yet and i think it balances what both 'Hold Your Colour' and 'In Silico' brought to pendulum's style perfectly and I love the album.

'Self vs Self' features possibly the best collaboration ive heard, 'The Island Pt.2' is possibly the biggest club track of the year, 'Set me on Fire' the most fluid Dubstep ive heard in a long time and 'Immunize'...well, Liam Howlett's a legend so you know its going to be good even before youve heard it. BUT its this inclusion of many different styles that may drive true d&b fans to feel little disappointed. But if you can get past this(and I did in a big way) youve got an amazing album on your hands....one of the best of the year in my opinion.

Was every bit as good as I thought it would be but just fell short of that 'epicness' I give 5stars for.

The new direction has continued and is still workin for the most part. There are a new tracks like self vs self which could show where the band are likely to head in the future, but I really hope not. there is the danger that they will move into a metal band.
Track like the Vulture are faster and show that Pendulum still have it.

Its not Hold Your Colour but is fast paced for the most part and well worth the buy.