Miles beyond what The Unified Field presented to the collected IAMX masses, Metanoia is a bleak, dark album fueled by mastermind Chris Corner’s bout with chronic insomnia and a severe locale change (Berlin to Los Angeles) making this, his sixth album as IAMX, probably the most incredible of all. So what you get as a result of all this is an album that is more visceral and raw than previous efforts (Is that even possible?), with the dancier moments almost atomic here while the somber, ballad-type numbers becoming even more emotive.
“No Maker Made Me” is an industrial synth-filled romp driven by static beats and Corner’s glorious vocal phrasing and emotional delivery with lines like “We can always just fuck away our sorrow…” giving you those warm and fuzzy feelings you crave from a new IAMX jam. First “single” “Happiness” throbs and glistens as Corner’s cries of “Liars!” rings out.
“North Star” is that dance floor atom bomb I was talking about bristling with excitement as Corner’s voice quivers with anticipation of what’s to come. And come it does! Once the switch is thrown it’s an all out war on the dance floor. I know I mention Cambridge, MA’s Fetish/Goth club Man Ray a lot in these pages but this is another one of those tunes where you’d see the goths completely lose their shit if those hallowed walls were still standing. And that, my friends, would be a beautiful thing to witness!
When things do start to slow down (The trio of “Say Hello Melancholia”, “The Background Noise”, “Insomnia” come to mind), the results are equally impressive with these grandiose, almost Broadway movements within. “Lookoutside”, an ode to Corner’s sunny new home, is akin to the Clockwork Orange score while “Oh Cruel Darkness Embrace Me” is an electronic mid-tempo head bob fest which leads into the fervent banger “Aphrodisiac”.
Metanoia is out through Metropolis Records now (Get yours here). IAMX will also be hitting the road this Fall and landing in Boston October 26th at Brighton Music Hall. For a full list of dates, head here.