Pendulum - Immersion

Aussie d'n'b turned rock mob return with third album


If you know of Pendulum you are either one of two types of people = the seasoned drum and bass fan will know the band from many years ago when they released 'Hold Your Colour', or you could be the more casual listener who grew fond of the Aussie band after hearing some thumping tracks such as 'Granite' or 'Propane Nightmares'. Either way, Pendulum aim to swing both ways, and given the gulf between these two sounds, to pull it off would be one mean feat.

Given the massive difference between the bands two albums, one has every right to be sceptical about the idea of Pendulum striking the perfect balance. Well, to a certain extent it’s pulled off quite well, as the first seven minutes indicate with the stomping ‘Salt In The Wounds’. Providing a pounding bassline that destroys your speakers well over the six minute mark. The band delve back into the territory they most recently navigated on 'In Silico' with the epic first single 'Watercolour', before thrusting you back into a craze with 'Set Me On Fire', complete with umpteen samples intertwined with the zipping synth sounds to keep your eardrums busy for its full duration. While this is a success, it’s also partially where 'Immersion' lets itself down. There are songs on this album that will equally please and upset fans at both sides of the spectrum, but there never seems to be that ideal balance struck on an individual track, which is disappointing. The closest the band gets to this is 'Under The Waves' which is a great track, but doesn’t really mold the two sounds well enough.

Without delving into the petty negatives too much, it must be said that for the duration of 'Immersion' (a good bit over an hour, 15 tracks), it really is a good record. What helps this record stay entertaining to the very end are some guest appearances, with the pick of the two being 'Self Vs Self' with In Flames. It’s no secret that the band love their metal, and they’ve done a great job of giving In Flames as much leg room as possible to properly influence the track with some crunching metal riffs, and Rob Swire doing his subtle synth work and great vocals over a very catchy chorus. The following track is almost just as good, with Steven Wilson also being given the chance to work his experimental magic into the track along with the bands musical backdrop. The two tracks really do bolster the record, and set it up for an excellent closure.

All in all, 'Immersion' isn’t as good an album as its two predecessors, but it’s a long way from being a bad record. The songs are great, and they flow very nicely together, but it just doesn’t manage to make the same mark as previous Pendulum albums, and this is down to the fact the band haven’t really managed to create a proper hybrid of their two opinion polarizing albums, or possibly down to the fact no large progress has been made in progressing their sound. Only time will tell how big an impact this album will have on the bands future, and I for one am excited to see what they come up with next.