The Secret Meeting - Ultrashiver
CD Info
2007
Noiseplus Music
10 Tracks
English lyrics
The Secret Meeting is a new project featuring the members of Collide, kaRin and Statik, as well as Dean Garcia (ex-Curve).The style of music is…well…Collide-esque! If I were to compare the sound of Ultrashiver to the past efforts of Collide, Ultrashiver would sound a little less electronic and a little more alternative. There are more guitars present on Ultrashiver than on any Collide release I’ve heard. I’ve honestly never even heard of Curve before purchasing this album, so I can’t comment on how much of Curve’s sound is represented on this album. However, I can say that the music presented on Ultrashiver is top notch.
The first thing that strikes the listener upon first listen is kaRin’s wonderful voice. For those already familiar with Collide, you already know what to expect. For those unfamiliar, the adjectives airy, other-worldly, and erotic come to mind to describe the voice of kaRin. The closest comparison I can make would be a deeper, fuller, seductive, and breathy Liv Kristine—even that just barely starts to describe the voice of kaRin. Her vocals are a little altered at times throughout the album, but, I assure you, it’s done very tastefully. There’s not really any time during the album that I feel kaRin doesn’t deliver a very good performance—her vocals also fit the songs very well. This album has a very distinct atmosphere throughout the whole album due in part by kaRin’s vocals. There aren’t a lot of albums that create an interesting and distinct atmosphere throughout a whole album—but Ultrashiver does just that. The atmosphere that is created sort of transports the listening into his or her own little world.
How do the songs sound though? Well, quite frankly, they are all mostly excellent. What I love about this album is that you can pick out any song and you are guaranteed to find a very memorable hook you’ll be humming for days. Take "Shiver X" (which happens to be my favorite song of the album) for example. The chorus, though quite simple, has a very effective hook that will linger in your thoughts long after the album ends! Along with "Shiver X", "Am I Here?", "Every Little Thing", and "Imaginate" are all very successful songs—the latter being an excellent way to end the album. Yes, there are a couple of times where a song doesn’t quite live up to the previous song. What’s great though is the lows of this album would be the equivalent to the highs on many other albums out there!
So what we have here is an album filled with memorable song writing, great atmospheres, and well done performance by all members. Conclusion: if you are into Collide, rock music with electronic influences, or just good music in general, I suggest buying this album now. Though, one can only hope this isn’t just a one off album by this new and fascinating team!
9 / 10
