Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:35:14 — 218.0MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Stitcher | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | RSS | The Full List of Platforms We Exist On
Hello there good people, you may actually need a sanity check after this one! This week Ryan and I dive into the bramble-filled rabbit hole that is Insanity Check’s debut album, Unrecoverable Reality. We once again get lost in unfamiliar territory within a dark beat-driven, industrial synth electronic, metal-tinged soundtrack-like concoction. The intense music brought up memories of many–and I truly mean many–video games of our past. We drift everywhere within the pixel-based universe, and of course, add in our own distorted thoughts. To name a few games… Luigi’s Mansion, Time Splitters 2, Duke Nukem Twisted Metal, the list goes on.
Despite a lack of terminology to describe the electronic elements within this release, Ryan and I try our best as we ride the vapor waves through each distinct track. Each song unpackages a rich layered landscape for the mind to explore, like the carnival nightmare synth or the hard-hitting metallic beats that drag you into a jagged junkyard. While you’re nursing your rusty tetanus-filled wounds, be prepared to dance your way to a cyber beat. Then you find yourself smashing buttons within a ghoul-filled arcade as chiptune fragments dart in. With each listen I found myself intrigued by a new noise, melody, or beat.
Insanity Check was conjured up by the Finnish DJ Topias Svärd. He is also known as “DJ Backstabber” and “8-Bitape”(a chiphop project within the Scandanavian chiptune underground). Unrecoverable Reality took five years to produce and captures a dark time in Topias’ life has he struggled with mental health issues. He also notes that it could act as an alternative mix to a Command and Conquer Red Alert soundtrack, so maybe Ryan and I aren’t too far off with the video game chatter. Now gear up, deploy some pylons for the Zerg rush, and listen to our nerd ramblings.
* * * * * *
Purchase the digital album or get yourself a vinyl over at Hiraeth Records Bandcamp. You can also follow Insanity Check on Facebook.
If you’d like to support us beyond listening to our podcast, you can do so by becoming a patron on our Patreon page. There you can read all of our notes for each album review episode we publish, gain early access to every episode before its official release, and acquire an embroidered From Corners Unknown patch, a button, and stickers if that’s your thing.
Next week Ryan and Duncan speak about Afterbirth’s Four Dimensional Flesh.
Leave a Reply