Music Review // Afterbliss "Unknown Machine"

 

https://afterblissmusic.bandcamp.com/album/unknown-machine

When it comes to bands taking the existing sounds you know, within genres, and blending them to form their own sound there might be none better at it than Afterbliss.   Upon first listening to this EP, there are ideas that come out about not only which genre Afterbliss could be put in but also what type of sound they can relate with in terms of other artists.   The more I listen to "Unknown Machine" though, the more those types of ideas fade and I begin to wonder why I had them in the first place as all I can hear is Afterbliss.

In an easy way of explaining this, the sound of Afterbliss can be described as electronic rock.   There is this element of Trans-Siberian Orchestra only there is singing within the Afterbliss songs, but still they have that big, operatic sound to them.   I also like to imagine that one member of Afterbliss plays the keytar live.   This just has that immediate rock sound which will pull you in, but as you dive deeper into the songs you'll find so much more.

"Castaway" feels more like a ballad than "Remnants" and somehow it also reminds me of Billy Joel.   The synth tones can really begin to space out in "Empty Spaces", which gives the sound an overall unique feel as I'm not sure who to compare that with.   While at times it can feel as if you're part of the era of music which brought about Genesis and Flock Of Seagulls, then you hit a song like "Kiss & Tell" in which I'm reminded of My Chemical Romance.   To have that retro aspect but with also something a bit more modern just puts Afterbliss into a genre their own.

Though it feels as if artists have been playing the keyboard since it really made this mainstream presence during new wave, the fact is that it isn't always that prominent.   From bands such as Waking Ashland and Showbread to The Killers and The Bravery, Afterbliss just seems to be creating their own sound in the present, borrowing from the past but also focusing on the future.  Their name is also fitting as this music is truly blissed out.