While(1

SINGAPORE — The Deadmau5 we used to know was a typical club rat. His songs were mainstream and defiantly conventional. This two-disc album clearly depicts a smooth transcendence of the music of Joel Thomas Zimmerman (for that is Deadmau5’s real name) to the dark side, with his radiance evolving into somewhat of a haunted fetish. A new era of progressive wave, perhaps. It’s more than just enchanting, it’s airy use of still space that’s almost hypnotic, with tracks such as Terrors In My Head, Ice Age and Phantoms Can’t Hang. Sure, Zimmerman’s a straightforward songwriter, yet he manages to expertly entangle his audiences in his adventurous output. This album is like the quieter understudy of Hotel Sleep’s electro-haunt music, non-lyrical and enormously reassuring to hear. The album’s overall influences aren’t that discernible, with Disc 2 featuring experimental hits like Acedia, Incidia and Coelacanth II. While most electro-synth groups are either fearful to make the big leap into thematic fusion, Zimmerman dives head first and fearlessly conquers the wildness of his songs. All in all, the album makes for a perversely pleasurable listen.