Album Review: William Control – The Neuromancer
Release Date: April 4th, 2014
The first thing you must realize before queuing up The Neuromancer by William Control is that it is unlike anything else you have ever heard and I’m sure the first question that comes to mind is if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
Grab a seat and let’s talk a minute.
Let’s touch on a house-cleaning item first if you don’t mind. William Control is not a person, it’s a band, actually it’s a character but we’ll get into that shortly. Formed in 2008 by William Francis lead singer of the punk band Aiden as an outlet for some material he didn’t think fell into the Aiden mold and as such released the first album HATE CULTURE which featured the tale of one William Control and chronicled his last night on earth as he attempted to kill himself.
Now that we know some back story let’s talk about this latest release The Neuromancer.
Opening with a spoken word track titled simply Intro – we are ushered into a dark, lonely world where once again William contemplates his time left in this world. Francis’s deep monotone voice draws you in and refuses to let you leave.
We are then swept into what I can only describe as a “tour de force” of musical stylings ranging from electronic dance to hard core punk and even a little bit of full on metal. The band manages to pull it all off effortlessly and along the way they construct a sound that is unlike anything else out there right now.
For my money, the strongest track on the collection is “The Filth and the Fetish” with its oddly perfect dance beat accompanying a decidedly metal riff and well placed moans and groans, it is a pure ear-gasm.
All the tracks have a theatrical flair that would make for one hell of a live show, and if being honest, it really does appear that this whole project was constructed with a stage show in mind. The tracks flows into each other like chapters of a book – one that once you begin reading, you can’t stop.
WILLIAM CONTROL – Revelator (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
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Unapologetically dark, yet seething with honesty, this album requires a few listenings to fully appreciate the talent behind what you are hearing. The heavy synthesizer at times gets in the way of what are some of the most haunting lyrics I’ve heard in a while. The final track “Where The Angels Burn” is breathtaking in its poetic verse and the final spoken words serve as a perfect ending for the tale of a troubled man in search of something he doesn’t quite understand.
I found listening to The Neuromancer to be a genre bending journey that made me appreciate the artistic endeavor of William Francis and I can’t recommend enough that you sign on for the ride – just hang on tight, cause it’s a wild one!
This album gets a SOLID 4 out of 5 skullz!
Track Listing:
1. Intro
2. Adore (Fall In Love Forever)
3. Revelator
4. Price We Pay
5. God Is Dead
6. The Filth And The Fetish
7. Illuminator
8. Passengers
9. The Blade
10. Love Is A Shadow
11. Where The Angels Burn
Connect With William Control:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | BUY THE ALBUM
By: Dave Dreher, RockRevolt Magazine Contributor
