Imaginary Forces — Visitation
A 12" release doesn't allow for a lot of time for an artist to fully express himself/herself, but if the space is properly used, it's just right. With four tracks coming in at just over twenty minutes, Imaginary Forces uses rhythm and light noise to bring his bleak, robotic vision to the listener. The sparse beats that emerge in the opener, "Preternatural," seemingly come from the heart of an industrial abyss. Buzzing synths crackle forth and open up the doors to the fiery chamber at the heart of the factory. "Enlightenment" takes the pulsing one step further, and keeps a consistent, head nodding pace. Continuing the crispy synths of "Preternatural," but expanding to beyond the industrial inner workings, this is about as traditional as Imaginary Forces gets to dance music. Side B shows a return to the sparseness. Soft, spaced out beats keep the minimal synth grime at bay for the first two thirds, before the speed and volume increase and the groove gets more persistent. Continuing on the more sparse front, "(A Drift)" takes this and runs with it. Featuring Closed Circuits doing spoken word, "(A Drift)" shows that Imaginary Forces' approach to electronica extends beyond the near dance style and works well as, for lack of a better term, active ambient. Having listened to a bunch of H.P. Lovecraft readings recently, this one strikes more of a chord with me than it would've in the past, but this is a very solid and different way to end this 12".
Imaginary Forces' Visitation is a fun jaunt into a fairly diverse & moody electronica. Whether head nodding to the groove or drifting out to crispy tones and spoken word, this 12" is time well spent. Having no prior knowledge of this act, I'm definitely going to keep my eye out for his future releases.