“Beyond,” the bidecadal offering from Informatik will apparently be available Sept 9th. I’m not sure I should be worried or excited.

I’ve been a huge fan of the band ever since I bought “Syntax” back in 1999. The album still sounds great to my ear, and every so often I do throw it into the cd-playing-device. Their sound has radically changed since “Syntax” and “Direct Memory Access.” Back then, the band had more of a hard-edge minimal EBM sound, which was very prominent amongst the first 100 Metropolis releases. For “Nymphomatik,” they ventured deep into futurepop territory, though still maintaining slightly more interesting synth-patches and composition. “Nymphomatik” is about the only futurepop album that I can still listen to without being irritated.

I’ve heard a few tracks off the new album… and well, I have mixed feelings. For one, Tyler Newman works with Din on these releases. And as of lately, Newman has decided that the emo-whinny-metal-guitar sound is where it’s at (see latest Battery Cage album “A Young Person’s Guide to Heartbreak”). The album does sound a hell of a lot different from Nymphomatik (or the pit-stop of Re:vision). When I heard the track “Nothing Greater,” I was appalled at the post-1990-DM sound that seemed to have been channeled. Hell, I almost threw my fancy studio headphone out the window. However, today I gave “Louder then Words” a few spins, and I’m really digging it. On the downside, the track has somewhat painful choices in guitar tones, and lyrics talking about heartbreak sound tacky. However, on the upside, I really enjoy the synth-patches that Din/Newman decided to use, Din’s voice sounds amazing, and the mastering is of superb quality. I’ll wait to hear the whole album a few time, before I make up my mind