Expectation is a heavy weight and a backstabbing bitch. Just in case you wondered…

Right. Destroy is another project by Ville ‘V-KhaoZ’ Pallonen, the absolute master of all things synth in whatever he turns his hand to. His futuristic, decaying metropolis ‘Starspire’ under the Dim Lights banner is in my opinion one of the greatest pieces of desolate but still beautiful ambient that I have heard ever. Druadan Forest are just a whole myth unto themselves from dungeon synth to black metal and all points in between. And that’s only two of his many outlets. The man is inspired and deserves so much respect.

But that brings expectation too, which as well as the previous quote is also a lying misleading sonofabitch and the fault there is not the artist’s. So when I saw this bit of synthwave crop up on the review lists I kinda lunged at it. I mean V-KhaoZ synthwave? Just look at the cover. Look at the title ‘Night Of Vengeance’ and the tracks like ‘Streets Of Rage’, ‘Dominator’, ‘I Am Vengeance… I Am The Night’ and your mind is already racing along neon lit retro-future city highways. You are the equalizer on a bike out of Akira speeding down streets of fire and the armies of the night ranged against you, no?

‘Intro-Streets Of Rage’ is a dark, brooding affair. Sinister moments of melody pierce the prowling darkness. A little rise of twinkling keyboards reminiscent of Halloween and a sample from Aliens hints at a build up, and we slip seamlessly into ‘The Nighthawks’.

There is a hint of the Carpenter Brut feel here, the bit before they hit the driving beat…. and yet it doesn’t. Instead the music flows slowly and softly onwards. There is a sense of vision, of being around. The lazy flight of some craft over the megalopolis like a scene from Blade Runner. There is calm here, no urgency, a gentle at atmospheric drift through the cityscape but high above, removed. ‘Hunter Killer’ is no chase through this world, this is more Stalker Killer. A sample from Terminator: Salvation. A pulsing step, a slow slide. Always feeling on the verge of something yet amidst all this atmosphere the kill shot never comes. By the time the eerie creep of ‘Ghouls Of The Iron Dawn’ passes, leaving behind a wake far closer to the endless, terrifying walk through a cancerous replicating city in the manga Blame! that some the world suggested by cover and titles, I have to accept not only am I not going to get any of those driving, surging themes. This is a sombre album, a slow soundscape and wander through a city where everyone appears to be asleep. The other problem is it constantly teases, hints that the energy is suddenly going to rise only to plateau in that night world of twinkling melody and surges in the keyboard wash. ‘New Lawless Age’ has no sound of a lawless land to me, ‘Dominator’ is more seductive. ‘No Regret’ the closing track leaves me puzzled as to what they might be addressing.

So the expectation of cover and titles couple with artist was… destroyed. It is not what you think.

So then I have to go back again and again, knowing all this and settling into the album for what it actually is. Firstly, it is as sumptuous and rich as you would expect from V-Khaoz. The depth to the sound and arrangements is so on point, the soundscape crafting is beautiful, no doubt, and yes this is synthwave. But it is not a pseudo film soundtrack – no film would succeed with this. There are no crests or valleys, not shifts in gear, no adrenaline. It is all introspection. It feels like constant shots of empty streets, rain on filthy ground as neon shines on the skyline. So yes it does craft a world. But it’s a world without people or movement. It is so still.

I know music is not a competition, and comparisons often are irrelevant, but this has been placed in a world where Kavinsky played the Olympics, where the last Gunship album finally showed what an emotional engine powers them and where Carpenter Brut bring the violence that Perturbator have left behind. Destro is not any of that, but all the packaging places it in the same world so you can be forgiven for expectation as long as you go back and look at what it actually is.

On its own merits though this is an exquisitely crafted piece, but not one you go to looking for an emotional ride, or a rush. This is one for the moments you want to be king or queen of the city, staring out at the lights from your penthouse and not able to see the petty lives and emotions flowing in the streets. It is a neon painting, removed from the dirt and the inconvenience of their reality. It is beautiful, trance like and worth visiting certainly. But as the adage goes, do not judge it by the cover. I simply far prefer Dim Lights for something closer to this mood.

(7/10 Gizmo)

https://avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/night-of-vengeance