After the Fall is the fourth album from Videodrones, the Danish duo of Jakob Skøtt and Kristoffer Ovesen, and the first to feature the live drumming of Skøtt; he’s noted for handling the sticks in Causa Sui, the flagship band on El Paraiso Records, which releases Videodrones’ latest on LP (limited to 500 on black vinyl with an obi strip) and digital April 29. Live drums and guitars in tandem with the ever-present analogue synths helmed by Ovesen do facilitate a shift in the duo’s sound, but the new record registers as a satisfying progression rather than a disruptive break with the past.
It should be mentioned straightaway that rhythms of the programmed (or at least synthetic) variety are a component in Videodrones’ pre-After the Fall discography, though they aren’t the main focus. And the presence of rhythms is worth mentioning, the better to stress that the duo’s work wasn’t an ambient undertaking, but instead was initially focused upon cinematic atmospheres, and as the title of their 2016 debut Mondo Ferox emphasizes, sounds extending from the realms of Euro-exploitation.
Said approach continued in second album Nattens Hævn (2017) and Atavistic Future (’19), but was smartly tempered a bit, and then diversified with stylistic elements ranging from the electronic wing of the mid-20th century avant-garde to early electronic pop to even flashes of ambient. This is especially true of Atavistic Future, with the breadth highlighting Videodrones’ consistent forward development.
After the Fall manages to extend this trajectory even as expanding the instrumentation risks backsliding into relative normalcy. Right away in opener “Void Facer,” a prog undertone is established but with an equal emphasis on melody as the album’s selections generally favor brevity. As one of the longer cuts on the record (breaking six minutes), the second track “Scorpio” is structurally multifaceted as kosmische elements get integrated into the scheme.
“Scorpio” additionally highlights Skøtt getting off on the drums in a way that a programmed apparatus simply can’t. But it’s not like he’s constantly flailing around with the overzealous fills, as “Frygtens Time” finds him setting a groove in motion with discipline as Ovesen spreads out on the synths. And “Irgendwo-Irgendwann” lacks drums entirely, though mallet vibes do take their place.
The shortest cut on the LP at under two minutes, “Inferno Verde” is infused with video game secretions and hand percussion (beaucoup shakers). In the title cut, the drums come thundering back, effectively undergirding the clinical electronic aura that’s heard throughout the piece. Beginning with just guitar, “Wasteland Interceptors” wastes no time fully unfolding, and with a return of the prog sensibility. From there, “Ar Amarelo,” another of After the Fall’s shorter tracks, is a bit of a textural wild card, unwinding like an R&B slow jam from the far distant future.
Entering the home stretch, “Blaster” is a touch more melodic than its title insinuates, though the cut does work up a nice head of steam. And speaking of titles, as the last track “Finale” suggests, if one reads the names of After the Fall’s selections in order, something of a narrative structure is established, a maneuver that makes clear Videodrones’ cinematic impulse hasn’t abated. But upon soaking up the whole of the duo’s latest record, it’s the songs that make the deepest impression, and that’s just fine.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
