Colossloth — Heathen Needles

British electronic act Colossloth is back with his second release on Cold Spring, Heathen Needles. Featuring eleven tracks of diverse but well connected electronic grimness, Colossloth defies classification and has the freedom to do compose as he chooses. Heathen Needles benefits greatly from this freedom, and Colossloth's textures and tones can be appreciated fully for what they are.

Juxtaposing dark and contemplative with light and ambulatory, Colossloth's Heathen Needles runs the gamut of sounds and expressions. On top of this, the heavy metal band logo further complicates matters and helps to muddy quick classification. Whether this taxonomical trickery is done on purpose or not is a good question, but one must appreciate the openness that comes without having preformed thoughts on an album. For instance, calling this album death industrial would have the listener cursing the sky over the first track, the electronic bliss that is "Justify Your Youth." However, that same listener would be pleased at the PE tinged grime of the following track, "Goodwill Scars." Heathen Needles is chock full of wonderful transitions of sound and expectation. Colossloth's approach helps to show different tones in interesting ways, and helps to lower the barrier between varying styles of dark electronics.

Whether looking for grimness or contemplative electronics, Colossloth's Heathen Needles is a score for the listener. Diverse but well put together, his second release on Cold Spring is chock full of interesting layers, tones, and expressions. This is a wonderful, every day type of dark electronic album.