In the interest of being on point with honesty, BlakeAndrew is my closest friend. Our experiences together are vast, from DJ sets to producing songs, and he was a big part of me getting into blogging. He runs the solid DJ electronic music blog Twilight_Frequencies, which is where I got my start writing online.

Blake has been working on his first full length release for several years. He came out with an EP when Myspace was the best place to release music, which implicates how long Blake has been doing his networking in the new media world. Blake was the first person I knew to cross multiple platforms with his creativity, and use those places to share music, design work, blogging, and general technology news, among other things. I think his consistency in the game, is similar to the type of music he makes.

Awakening is like a machine that keeps coming. And at the end of it all you hear the “Voices” that give you some comfort. It makes perfect sense the closing song on the album is the one that eases up a bit, as if to signify a big change in life.

The structures are always tight in his songs, with great emphasis on solid drum samples, and an atmospheric that lends to a heavy use of  the word dark. Blake would be the first to admit he is largely influenced by Trent Reznor, and the historic nature of the epic genre called Techno. I listened to the album months ago, and other than my Jack Russell Terrier named Leo running scared out of the room, the experience was interesting to say the least. Even if your general cup of tea doesn’t  rest on a more ominous, gritty end pieces; BlakeAndrew manages to shed the fear with his great production, and consistency. On top of all this metal being bent there’s a veiled soulfulness  to the music. The rhythms are solid, almost too perfect, but they have a shake to them, which reflects the diversity in the man.

Make sure to nab the entire record for the low low cost of $5.00. You can grab some nice singles, including “Voices” which is my favorite for free on soundcloud.

~ Ryan Boos