Hardscrabble by The Flashbulb
Yet another master piece
Hardscrabble is the latest album from The Flashbulb, released on 23rd October 2012.
Now this album completely took me by surprise, after hearing about it just a day before release I did not expect such a short time gap from his last album release, ‘Opus At The End Of Everything’ to this. Now the first question that struck me is that if it would sound like a rushed album, would it live up to the standards of Opus of not?
Benn never fails to please and of course this album is another fantastic success in my opinion, heading back to the roots of his glitchy IDM whilst still including all the immersive, beautiful melodies of his more recent work.
This album really captures the interest of the listener and every track on the disc sounds superbly crafted. The hybrid of his older material, and his newer material create an album that every flashbulb fan will love, he has also thrown in a subtle dubstep feel with a few heavy, growling bass sounds found in tracks like “The Bridgeport Run”.
His tracks are also quite diverse throughout the album, throwing direct genre in the garbage can once again by creating truly original music, the track “The Basement Trio” includes a lot of his Jazz influence whilst other such as “Skype Piano” have a beautiful and immersive feel.
Overall, I feel The Flashbulb has brought another incredible album to his fans, packing it full of new, interesting, and creative music that mixes everything he does best into one great album.
Yet another masterpiece, already!
Rating: 4/5
Worth buying? - without a doubt
Downsides: The only downfall in this album is that it doesn’t contain anywhere near as many tracks as in his previous album, Opus At The End Of Everything.
(Review by Sam Goddard - Nemski - Ethereal Being)
