4 years after their debut release, Skoyz returns with Hologram. One would hope that with that long between releases the music would be phenomenal and it definitely is. Skoyz's sound borders on IDM, but does have many EBM tendencies. For example within Dark Energy one can hear a solid, danceable beat, a crisp rhythm, semi-vocoded vocals, and some nicely programmed, retro-electro synths. Distress is a slow moving instrumental that lays the ground for Distress Signal, one of the highlights on the CD. Distress Signal combines distant, cascading synth lines with a steady, rolling beat and twisted vocals. The title track is another great piece geared towards the dance floor. A mild, standard EBM beat is joined by squeaky synths, and a noisy rhythm. Interlace strips down Dark Energy to its base elements, a systematic, yet complex beat structure, erratic synths and dark vocals. Daniel Myer's Destroid remix of Cold Colour is a straight forward, instrumental IDM piece with cascading, high-pitched synths and a thick, warped beat. The Crystalline Effect remix of Distorted Dreams is the best remix on the CD. They take the somewhat slow moving piece and, by rearranging the beat and synth structures and adding in a smattering of their own sound, they bump it up a few notches on the intensity scale. Other remixers include Neon Cage Experiment, Polygon, as well as Skoyz themselves. There is quite a lot to absorb on this CD, as the music has a lot of twists and turns which keeps you on your toes. Let's hope to hear more from them in the *immediate* future.


Industrial Bible