Cathartica/Intrasphere by Phase and Program One (Review)
This is a split CD of two bands, Phase and Program One. It’s a full length CD with Phase taking up the first six songs and then Program One doing the last four.
Phase starts things off with some cool darkwave/ambient synths on “Purge.” About mid-song, some aggro-guitar sounds kick in and the vocals correspondingly go from quiet spoken words to angry but not hardcore yells. A similarity to Fell Venus is evident. I really like song #3 which is called “Walk on Water.” It’s got nothing but beautiful, emotional ambient music that is sure to cause some stirring inside of you. “Visions of Blue” shows Phase as a more aggro-rock/dance band with some raw driving electro beats. The last song, “Ocean Blue” was originally written by Mike Knott for his band LSU. Don’t expect a radical departure from that song as Phase does do a good job of recreating it with some electronic manipulations. The vocals even have that raw edge to them that Mike Knott is known for. Overall, Phase is a solid ambient darkwave aggro-industrial rock band.
Program One is somewhat different but I think that it complements the music of Phase very well. Some words that come to mind while listening to Program One are ambient darkwave experimental classical instrumental. Imagine the Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus integrating some piano sounds with light electro beats following the melody and you’ll have an idea of what a couple of songs by Program One are like. Song #8, “Untitled” is my favorite song by Program One. It’s another emotional ambient/darkwave song (boy, do I like these kind of songs) that I find to be moving and reassuring.
My only complaints about this is CD is that is appears to have been recorded at very low levels which means you’ll have to turn up the volume on your stereo more than normal to better hear the CD. I’d really like to see both of these bands get some quality studio time and the support of a record label. My other complaint is a technical one. For some strange reason, one song #10 is over, the CD wont automatically stop. It just keeps spinning like it was looking for the next song or something. I often listen to music while going to sleep at night and I don’t like it if a CD just keeps spinning all through the night wasting electricity. But that’s just me.
Written by Richard Maaranen. This review originally appeared on the Flaming Fish Music website.