Saints of Eden  - Forbidden Pleasure

‘Forbidden Pleasure,’ the fourth full length release from UK genre flouting collective Saints Of Eden, is a quicksilver beast, constantly shifting and evolving from beat to beat and track to track while threatening to leave a complacent listener lost in a swirl of electronically enhanced nuance. For around fifteen years band mastermind Cian Houchin (Ex Nefilim bassist) has been creating divisive but consistently interesting music under the SOE banner, and this latest work is no exception, sure to leave many enthused and others, well, simply bemused.

Melding the imposing, coldly metallic guitar work of Industrial with walls of pulsing synth and dark atmospheric undertones, Houchin and co tread a fine line between enigmatic artistry and choking sterility, remaining, for the most part, on the favourable side of the equation. Tracks like opener ‘Timesphere’, ‘One’ and ‘Game Over’ coalesce around a handful of melodic hooks, albeit the kind of mournful, downbeat melodies that are more resonant of Ian Curtis that say, Ian Watkins, while at times proceedings almost threaten to segue into the stark heaviosity of Fear Factory ; no bad thing in my book. As mentioned above there’s a great variety of sound and tone to be found here, all delivered with the otherworldly drama and gruelling causticity that SOE have become known for in sections of the British underground scene, final track ‘Price Ya Gotta Pay’ boasting a striking promo video courtesy of Academy Award winning special effects consultant (Gladiator, Saving Private Ryan many others)that should certainly raise a few eyebrows. All in all this isn’t an easy sell, but those willing to persevere will find much to absorb them here.