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The Industrial Rock of Latent Anxiety

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Latent Anxiety (aka Ilja Rosendahl) crafts hard rock music that is seasoned with a variety of diverse influences: pop, industrial, goth, and trance.

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LATENT ANXIETY: Perception (CD on Delvian Records)

This release from 2005 offers 73 minutes of slick rock music.

Electronics and rhythms are assisted by guitar and vocals in their pursuit of peppy rock tunes.

The electronics are resolutely bouncy and crafted with strong appeal to the dancefloor. Sweeping tones establish crisp harmonics, while spry keyboards supply embellishment designed to keep things moving at a sprightly velocity.

The percussion offers rhythms from rock drums and techno e-perc, depending on which mode the tune requires. The rock songs possess hard beats with in-your-face sensibilities, while the techno tracks feature a bevy of snickety rhythms rich with an artificial demeanor.

There are times when the guitar growls with understated determination. These riffs slither among the surging electronics in a manner that merges everything into a streaming cohesion. At other times the guitar wails with the disposition of an arena rock band, producing harsh riffs that rock-out with glaring authority. Frequent processing results in lightning-fast guitar effects which add flash to the compulsive tuneage.

The vocals are strong and commanding. The lyrics concern themselves with relationships, between people and in relation to one’s perspective with the world at large.These compositions unify hard rock and pop attitudes, injecting an accessible slipperiness into rock’n’roll harshness. The latter trait emerges dominant.

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LATENT ANXIETY: Sensation (CD on Delvian Records)

This CD from 2007 offers 40 minutes of electrified rock music.

This time an industrial edge darkens the tuneage.

The guitars growl with a feral ferocity, producing snarling riffs that rely more on harsh definition than any pyrotechnic style.

The electronics display a surging quality, replacing any liquidity with a grating hostility. Some instances utilize a bubbling nature that imbues each bloop with a deadly acidity.

The rhythms pound away with a bloodthirsty intensity that is necessary so that the percussion can hold its own with the rest of the agro morass.

The vocals are delivered with guttural articulation.

These compositions are hard and powerful, slickly crafted and expertly executes. The tracks seethe with industrial sensibilities. Not all the songs seek to approximate Ministry’s wall of aggressive sound, though; some are straight-ahead rock structures with a teeth-gritting undercurrent.

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LATENT ANXIETY: Reaction (double CD on Delvian Records)

This release from 2007 offers 39 minutes (twice) of versatile rock music.

Disc 1 contains the music with bonus features (photos, lyrics, and video clips). Disc 2 offers a 5.1 DTS Digital Surround version of the same music.

Rosendahl is joined on a few tracks by guest vocalists: Vocaloid Lola and Kate Lesing.

This time the album starts off with a dense trance track. The electronics bully themselves to the forefront with surging riffs and snappy e-perc, flourishing to produce a lively dancefloor experience.

The rest of the music is generally hard rock material tinged with industrial harshness and a touch of sneaky techno. There are a few slower tunes that pursue a gothic motif.

The guitar retains its growly persona, but the performance now concentrates more on intricacy and nimble-fingered riffs. The rock tracks feature tasty aggressiveness, while the guitar adopts a more refined restraint in the more sultry songs.

The electronics are slick and versatile. Pulsations swim through the mix, establishing lighter pastiches for the music’s more assertive features.

The percussion is steadfast and stalwart...or sinuous and alluring, depending on the song’s inherent needs.

The addition of more prominent basslines is a definite plus, providing suitable bottom for the material.

The vocals display growth in that they change their style depending on the song’s mood. Harsh vocals belt out in the rock material. Slippery chants dominate the dance stuff, while romantic articulation flavors the goth pieces.

These compositions exhibit the musician’s ability to grow and try new things. Dance and trancey goth material is mixed among hard rock songs, resulting in a nicely fleshed out listening experience.

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