ALBUM REVIEW: Compiler Optimization Techniques – The Algorithm
It doesn’t really matter which way you spin it, there’s no arguing that THE ALGORITHM aren’t a weird band. The French outfit have created a niche for themselves by sampling and creating some of the most erratic and mind melting music you can find, usually free from the casual restraints of things like song structure, album pacing, and well, instruments.
In the past, THE ALGORITHM have avoided utilising more standard song-writing elements in lieu for the most hard hitting guitar infused electronic music around, taking the crunching tone of the hardcore genre and slapping it onto a technical and outright mental electronic skeleton. Returning to the fray this year with Compiler Optimization Techniques, the sound has seen a few tweaks and returns with a real determination to cement THE ALGORITHM as the leaders of this Frankenstein movement.
Cluster kicks things off with standard affair, the computer blips dropping in and out like strobe lights in a pitch black room, creating sufficient atmosphere before the rest of the mix kicks things up a notch. Things begin to open up to a more user friendly groove, something THE ALGORITHM have been known for but not in this accessible capacity. The groove bounces on uneven time signatures but retains its transparency, instead of being a technically impenetrable wall of noise it’s a headbanging beat that draws the listener in. With this stronger grounding, it gives ALGORITHM mastermind Rémi Gallego room to flex his sampling skills without the constant need to beat the listener into submission.
This comes with a couple of detriments in that the five track album sacrifices a lot of its urgency in replace for more thoughtful and patient builds. Every song here sits in at above the six minute mark, allowing for each track to develop and build in its own peaks and layers. Of course, this lack of urgency isn’t a constant drag, as it is shot out the water with the opening blast beats of Binary Space, as they are pumped out with force, although quickly subverted to the more refined and progressive attitude that has its claws sunk deeply into Compiler Optimization Techniques.
This is, by a country mile, THE ALGORITHM in their most focused state yet. The music is tight, and clearly the subject of meticulous design, as every break gives way to a fresh wobble from Rémi, and even when not being caught off guard by the weird off kilter noises, the water-tight drumming that holds the album together is often times awe inspiring. The track Superscalar features some of the most active transitions, as the music sways from blistering blasts to stuttering beeps through to sweeping electronics that eventually give way to these massive, open guitar leads that take the song to a new level never before explored on previous ALGORITHM records. This is very much the evolution of a band that were already beginning to violently upgrade from the get go.
What THE ALGORITHM have created with Compiler Optimization Techniques is the closest thing they’ve come to a truly winning formula. This is a patient and well thought out record, that grows and swells with a natural feel despite its clearly inorganic sounds and creations. The grooves are water tight and part of the reason this record remains so strong through its entire run time. For fans of the erratic nature of their previous works, THE ALGORITHM still find room in the mix, but this is the record of a band looking to evolve their unique sound to a further point of refinement. Exciting and unique are the prevailing words that come to mind after listening to THE ALGORITHM, even if there will always be a healthy dose of ‘what the fuck?’ there too.
Rating: 7/10
Compiler Optimization Techniques is set for release on November 2nd via self-release.
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