Take your brain on a psychedelic trip through intergalactic expanses of spine chilling awe, fear, and thine own self. This dark electronic album refuses to be confined by genre or labels, it simply demands to be experienced.
This is an album where if you peer in to its void, the void stares back..
0110
Riga, Latvia .Death.
.Synth.
.Repeat. S*cker punch
Released December 4, 2024
Written, produced and performed by 0110.
Mastered by Gregg Janman @Hermetech Mastering
Artwork by @Herr Nox https://linktr.ee/0110_music
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Review
The title track 'Sucker Punch' introduces the album HARD; A tension building high synth, loud drums, and the reverbing bass wave that this track opens with demand.. 'You WILL listen to this!' Just like the wonderfully psychedelic Pink Floyd were known to do, the track takes you on a much different, softer journey for a time, before changing things up once again to unexpected higher places. The synth notes that make themselves felt around the 2:00 mark add an air of the grandiose and intergalactic. 'Sucker Punch' made me feel like I was following a small fighter craft up close, seeing the beautiful images of planets and nebula behind it, only for the camera to pan round and show an invasion Armada of terrifying proportions; That's the kind of scale this track manages to create. Now of course - for all I know, this track could be entirely based on the film Sucker Punch which also had great music or something different entirely, but I can really see this track being used for a kick ass fight scene or traumatic realisation like you got in that movie too. In short, it's brilliantly cinematic piece, and takes you through the unexpected in your mind. 'Karen the Kraken'.. You know those memes about 'The ultimate boss Karen?' Well that's exactly what this song achieves, a messy, chaotic, cacophony of retro feeling synths and percussion that play out a tense atmospheric of a damn difficult boss fight on a retro console in great 64 bit style. The percussion and notes are jagged, fun, and easy to find yourself dancing along to. At 2:40 the track has a chilled out choral section, putting me in mind of a main character about to find their second wind before beating the boss, and there's always choral sections before the second phase with a main boss, right? Punchy, energetic, and bizarre all in one. We move on to quite the banger with 'Old, Epic... Untitled'
This track provides a real sense of cyberpunk with the midtempo crunchy synths, and the haunting - if not, harmonious vocal of a woman throughout. The notes have a sense of purpose, of action, and of combating something greater, more powerful, than the listener. This is full of retro and synthwave pic'n'mix from the rolling drums, to the high note keys, and the sweeping synths. This has an ideal title because it does feel quite epic! It actually reminds me of one of my favourite tracks of all time from Resident Evil Retribution - 'Flying Through The Air'
'A Certain Fate' is short at only 1:13 and has a recurring sound of multiple boots stamping to attention. That to me creates a sense of a dark fate indeed, the tragedy around us that is the rising of fascism, of war, and hate. The powerful drum at the end gives way to lightly crackling static.. I am reminded of the quote from Orwell's 1984..
But always – do not forget this, Winston – always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.
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'Hillcrest Wave' brings a taste of retro-wave but with more of leaning towards dark-synth, it sounds out an atmosphere of foreboding fear. This tracks feels like a journey through the darker corners of a mind, the likes of Lovecraft or even stranger things. The main body of the track gives way to a higher tempo, thumpier end at 4:52 which KICKS ASS! It is quite unexpected and out of the blue but the sudden change of pace present duelling synths and loops that create a beautiful sense of action, of adventure, and of overcoming something at great effort.
In 0110's own word.. "'Interlude in Hell I' is musically and thematically inspired by 'Help me I'm in Hell', track no.4 on Nine Inch Nail's 'Broken' EP."
This short track of 'Interlude in Hell I' does indeed strike true with the original NIN track but in a darker, more sinister approach that fits the title. It has a screeching - rising synth that really does give that haunting impression of Hell and the desperate need for escape. On the album itself, the last track is 'Plasma Hyper Drive' but the album does have one more song beyond that.. 'Plasma Hyper Drive' of course - brings me back to what I mentioned during the opener 'Sucker Punch' with the sci-fi Armada, as the first part of the track once again paints that picture of a galactic expanse, and a fleet poised to strike on it's helpless target. Here's where it gets really interesting, I used to play several retro games of space-fighters taking on waves of enemies that I loved and remember vividly. Why do I mention this? Well around 1:30 the track brings in a sense of hope.. slowly.. increasingly.. Then at 1:57 the track breaks formation and kicks in to a different flight path. The track suddenly sounds more arcade like, more heroic, more defiant, and that only builds as the track plays on. I relieved the memory of playing as of one of those fighter craft plowing in to an Armada fighting against all odds to take the fight back to them and inflict incredible losses. The retro drum loops just after the 4 minute mark are brilliant. The track feels like it speeds up throwing in all the best elements of experimental electronic music. I wouldn't be surprised if I played Stellaris one day and they had paid 0110 to incorporate this track in to the game's soundtrack.. It's REALLY good! The ending at 5:50.. DAMN! Power, grace, energy.. Intense fun, foot pounding, head banging joy.. what a rush! The last track/s I'll be covering here is 'Shout' - A cover of Tears For Fears which they were not able to licence for the main album.
Again in 0110's words: "Most of the digital versions are a bit shorter than their analog counterparts (cassettes/vinyls), some songs are even different to a point where the structure is slightly changed by a few bars.
-The cassette has two sides, side A is the full album (same as the vinyl, bandcamp, etc). Side B is how the album should have been if we would have been able to include "Shout" on the physical releases, so the songs are in a slightly different order and there's a long blank space near the end, long enough to fit 'Shout (long version)', which is a free download on bandcamp. So the listener can go "old school" , put some tape on the cassette's top corners and record the missing song, just like in the era of mixtapes."
I LOVE the original of 'Shout' and I usually am quite worried when I'm about to hear a cover of most classic songs, but 0110 have done it justice! The vocals and keyboards are performed by Navel4eve and they start off low in equalisation - being brought up slowly to give the sense of emergence from the depths at the songs beginning. The track is slower and darker than the original. (of course!) I'd go as far as to say that this is one of best covers I have heard in a long time. The keyboards, vocals, synths, drums, all of it creates a magical atmosphere that the original didn't quite create. Around about the 3:30 mark it does sound like 2 songs are playing without being beat-matched but it doesn't detract from the song, as much as it adds an interesting depth that was unexpected, perhaps a bit too jarring for some, bit I was able to still appreciate it.
The 'Long Version' powers out a great sense of euphoric electronics and joy at the latter end of the track as well.
Conclusion
For 0110 to produce an album that creates so much imaginative imagery, provoked memory, and day dreams.. You have to be listening to something quite special, unexpected, and experimental as to not know what to expect. Simply put Sucker Punch is by far one of the finest instrumental albums to grace my inbox.
With the exception of 'Shout', this lyric free album pushes the boundaries of electronic genre and definitions to new frontiers. 0110 have shown and incredible amount of vision and appreciation of the effect each and every sound will have on the listener, and that, is marvelous!
Thank you!
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