Pendulum (3) - In Silico

Prodigital, May 23, 2008

Pendulums Hold Your Color got me into Drum n Bass, so i was really curious as to what this would sound like. I started having my first doubts when i saw Warner Music on the cover. Why dont they release on an independent DnB label? Do they really want the marketing a big label like that can provide for them,to make sure they sell more? What was wrong with the Breakbeat Kaos label, why didnt they stay there...?
Listening to the music, you really, really cant help but notice it all sounds a bit bland and similar. There is no big variation between the tracks like on Hold Your Color, the basslines all sound soo much a like, they use the same type of synths on most of the tracks, they exploit their pop-rock sounding vocals a bit too much, and everything just doesnt sound as daring and fresh as good Drum n Bass is supposed to. About three tracks (Visions, 900 Miles & Midnight Runner) arent as bad as the rest, I actually like them, but they pale compared to what labels like Breakbeat Kaos, Lifted, Ram, Viper or Hospital consistently bring forward.
I used to stand up to people blindly hating on Pendulum, but I really have to face the fact that their music really isnt getting any better because theyre going this commercial. I wouldnt really mind that much if DnB goes more mainstream and Id have my friends talking about it, but not if that means the music is dumbed & dulled down and all the edge is taken off. And thats exactly what happened on this Pendulum album.

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