Rhys Fulber
Memory Impulse Autonomy
Artoffact Records
Rhys Fulber is most well-known for his various stints as Bill Leeb’s creative partner in electro-industrial pioneers Front Line Assembly and crossover electronica act Delerium, and especially during those project’s most celebrated eras, but his solo material under his own name has been quite different indeed. Jumping off from the boom of Berlin-style industrialized techno, and taking it in a more brutalist and formalized direction, the Canadian producer and performer’s various releases have largely been hard hitting, spartan, and craftsmanlike in their approach to sound design and arrangement.
Starting with 2024’s excellent Balance of Fear, you could hear Fulber bringing some of the more accessible and melodic elements of his production style back to his solo work, a trend that is even more pronounced on this year’s Memory Impulse Autonomy. While the inclusion of more vocal tracks from various collaborators is the most easily identifiable change of pace, there’s no shortage of intriguing new ideas, some of which hearken back to Fulber’s earliest influences as an artist. It’s no secret that Fulber is a dab hand across a variety of electronic styles (a skillset that made him an in-demand producer and contributor to metal and rock acts looking to add some synth textures to their music over the years), and there’s a genuine thrill in hearing him take on Cabaret Voltaire style sample cut-ups and funky bass and drum programming on “All of You Go to Heaven”, and in hearing how he splits the difference between Berlin-school synth music and meditative ambience on “Further Back and Forward”.
Much of the record’s appeal lies in hearing how cleverly these various switch-ups are integrated with the thudding, concrete techno of his contemporary catalogue. His two tracks with Qual do an excellent job in this regard especially. “The Abyss” weds fast-moving kicks and intricate sequences to a typically unhinged vocal in the style of Maybelline’s work in that project and bringing its depressive EBM to the rave. Alternately “Only Love Will Save Us”, a team-up with Years of Denial’s Barkosina cheekily winks at the listener with a sample from Yes’ “Roundabout” before launching into an stomper whose massive builds and buzzing bass programming allude to the grandeur of millennial trance and the sleaze of electroclash respectively. Finding a way to work the gated pads of Vancouver school post-industrial into the crushing mid-tempo roll of “New Despotism” is no mean feat, but it’s approached with an effortless and confident sounding touch that makes it seem like the most natural thing in the world.
Of course all of the studio mastery in the world makes no difference at all if its not applied to worthwhile material, and it’s to Rhys Fulber’s credit that he’s found such a potent balance between craftsmanship and artistic inspiration on Memory Impulse Autonomy. Even with the myriad styles being synthesized and approaches taken, the record never lacks for unity in its vision of electronic music, nor in how songwriting and technical wizardry can be applied to one another to inspiring effect. Recommended.
