Reviewed by Tony Cummings

From the ashes of Argyle Park comes this breathtaking sequel from new band AP2. The original founder of Argyle Park, Buka, has joined forces with Level (who had a 1998 album out on Flying Fish) to produce one of the darkest, yet most creatively innovative albums you'll hear for many a day. Basically industrial with all kinds of other influences dropped momentarily into the mix, songs like "Heroin Hate" and "Cold Breath Of Sorrow" are jagged explorations of pain and darkness and whether you suddenly find yourself grooving to the mutant drum'n'bass groove on "My Sympathies" or playing spot-the-guest to locate the contributions of Stavesacre's Mark Salomon, Klank and Joel Bell from Ghoti Hook, the listener is pulled along on a sonic roller coaster of screamed speech fragments, strange effects and unrelenting shifts of rhythms and tone. The lyrics, when they can be heard over the undulating vistas of sound, are defiantly enigmatic, the band's Buka saying recently, "Maybe the people want to find out more, it becomes more of a search, something else for the fans to sink their teeth into, other than just putting on an album and listening to it." No, no one could accuse these lads of shallow, evangelical Sloganeering or indeed of following the easy path of derivative recycles of decades of rock But if you're looking for an experimental tour-de-force, this is a milestone set in the growing sphere of the Christian avant guarde.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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