Industrial/Electronic Realms : Signal-Element – “Empire of the Gun” (2007)

Independent Release

Review by Tony Cannella

Okay, now for something completely different. Signal-Element are a duo from Alabama. Their members are: Zax Neon (Electro Harmonic Engineering) and Jenni Spectrus (vocals). They are an interesting combo that play – I suppose – a mix of electronic, metal, rock and any other genre or sub-genre you care to mention. Maybe futuristic Space metal would be an apt description. They’ve also got quite the fertile imagination, just go to their MySpace profile and read the back story that they’ve created for themselves. I guarantee you’ll be entertained. On to the music…“Starting Tomorrow” is a short little minute-and-a-half number. It’s hard to explain, just keyboard music, that leads us into the next track, “Lamphouse”.’ The song is a quirky little number, with a nice melody going through. “The Sea Hunt” is next and features both male and female vocals. Next is “The Oath”. This is one of the highlights on this CD as the song just barrels along like an electronic juggernaut. One thing you have to admire about Signal-Element is that they actually display a sense of humor throughout the 10-songs and 42-minutes worth of music presented on this CD. Other highlights include: “Sting of the Scorpion”, “Soldiers of the Badlands” and “Mister Armageddon”. The final two songs “Endlessly”and “Final Bastion” bring this CD to a close on a positive note. Overall, Signal-Element have done a good job in crafting a CDs worth of songs that aren’t afraid to go off the beaten path. Their songs are very imaginitive and atmospheric. It may take a few listens to really grasp what is going on here – and Signal-Element may not be for everyone, but if you are looking for something that’s a little left-of-center, then give this duo a chance.