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X-Fusion – well-known and popular project. Personally, I haven’t sunk into their creativity so much, concentrating rather on the twin Noisuf-X. However, I came to conclusion that this neglect should be rectified, so at the earliest convenience I caught with my hands the latest album entitled "Thorn In My Flesh".

The album lasts about an hour, so rather longer than shorter. From the one hand, it’s good because there is a lot of material (and already at this point I can reveal that this is good material) and you can delight in it longer. From the other hand, spate of work, which I have been recently overwhelmed by,has made it impossible for me to spend more time and focus properly on this album to write this review for readers keen on knowledge. But finally I managed, I’m sitting here and I’m writing while the intro "Poem", which creates the atmosphere of horror movies, is floating out from the speakers. Interesting introduction, very specific, in fact almost symphonic and what’s more there are choirs in the background. After that, there is "Stroke by Stroke", which has intense beat but still it is extremely romantic and gloomy. Harsh, almost black metal vocal fits this song perfectly.Next, there is "Strange New World" (an interesting paraphrase of Aldous Huxley, isnt’ it?), in which except from electronic elements there are also guitars. Worthy track, which may be associated with later Samael (from the period of "Eternal" or "Reign of Light"). The sound of "Holy Grail" (excluding vocal) seems to be quite similar to "Icon of Coil", which is (of course in my opinion) a good point because I really like this band. "Divine Spite", which then follows, is less dancing but again it creates quite specific atmosphere. "Easy To Hate" is one of my favourite ones – intense beat, you just want to enter a dance floor. The title "Thorn In My Flesh" is a very strange track, resembling a little bit, especially in slower parts, illustration music. It is catchy and again horror movies come to my mind. In "Funeral Cortege" once again we deal with choirs and the atmosphere of gothic castle which is accompanied by pompous orchestration. Then, "Shadow of Myself", the beginning of which seems to be an introduction to a classical composition. However, later intense beat and harsh vocal appear. "Just a Scar" starts with noise which is joined by a beat after a while and one more, perfect for dance floor madness, track begins. "Second Sight" again is extremely "gothic", it starts with piano and female voice uttering some words in German (unfortunately I’m not a specialist with German, so I can’t understand what she is speaking). The piano steers the whole song. Last but one track is "Odd One Out", which probably is not my favourite but still there is something about it. The album is finished by "Kalt" and this is quite a good ending and also the longest track. I’ve written quite a lot but the fact is that the album is extremely diverse. From the one hand, dance songs, from the other songs which would be perfect for horror movie soundtrack. The length of the material is a little bit overwhelming in a time of albums lasting maximum 45 minutes, however, each of the tracks can exist apart from the album and it would also work well.

A few words to sum up. It is a really good album. I would even say that it is great. Diverse, creating specific atmosphere, gloomy. Great sound and a lot of flavours make you want to come back to it. Worth checking!!

Tracklist:

01. Poem
02. Stroke by Stroke
03. Strange New World
04. Holy Grail
05. Divine Spite
06. Easy to Hate
07. Thorn In My Flesh
08. Funeral Cortege
09. Shadow of Myself
10. Just a Scar
11. Second Sight
12. Odd One Out
13. Kalt


Other articles:

• X-Fusion - What Remains Is Black - 2013-09-07 (Music reviews)
• X-Fusion - Ultima Ratio - 2012-05-18 (Music reviews)

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