★★★☆☆
Drum ‘n’ bass heads Phace & Misanthrop look to cash in on dubstep’s divergence by going all prog rock about it and putting the jump into jumpsuit. A very different kind of dubstep drama, stepping up to a theatrically flashbacked, keyboard-is-king plate, if bro-step was the gnarly, horns-making frat, Florian Harres and Michael Bräuninger have the keys to the school of performing arts next door with its own comic book kiosk.
Smoke machines blaring from the off, Neosignal take measure of ’80s Spandex, create blockbuster builds-up and board post-D&B guitar chugs before voyaging off into a galaxy you imagine is situated just past France. At times it’s an abnormal, audacious playing of kitsch epics against the rock-hard. Horsepower butting with unicorns, “Planet Online” and “Dernier Cri” get close to minimising the gap with electro chargers well set to occupy both sides of a fence that “Kein Signal” looks to blow to pieces. “Sequenz” and “1000 Volt” twist bass power boosts to interrupt playing at rock gods, “Temptation” is but one head-banger whipping a German glam metal mane, and “Kosmos” does in-flight electro entertainment, with the light show to match, for UFOs to descend to.
In a time when a pair of robot rockers has sent the music press spinning, Neosignal are getting high off their vapors. Live on stage it has the promise to be spectacular, the reviews sure to range from spectacular to WTF? That’s entertainment.
File under: Karl Bartos, Justice, Housse de Racket