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    The Phantom Tollbooth 1998/The Way Sect Bloom
    The Way Sect Bloom — Effloresce cover

    The Way Sect Bloom

    Effloresce

    (1997)

    Reviewed by Shari Lloyd

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    Label Flaming Fish MusicThe Phantom Tollbooth1998
    electronicindustrialindustrial rocktechno

    The Way Sect Bloom is a techno-industrial band from Long Island, New York. They name the following as influences; Mortal, Circle of Dust, Front Line Assembly, and Skinny Puppy. Around since 1993, they've previously appeared on several compilation CDs, including Artcore Volume One and Volume Two, Electro-Shock Therapy, Escape the Furnace, and Full-Frontal Lobotomy. This is their first full-length release. Effloresce combines most of the songs that have appeared on these various compilations plus a few new ones.

    Effloresce means to blossom, flower, or bloom. The Way Sect Bloom has certainly done that with EfFLoReScE. The album itself is a real mixture, but the music itself continually blooms forth. Some songs are loud, some soft. Some have mostly loud guitars, and some have no guitars. Some are a cross between industrial and harder-edged rock with an almost metal feel to it, and then some are purely industrial with distorted voices and lots of sampling. Whatever direction they take, though, a techno-industrial sound can be heard throughout the album. For example, "Dive" starts with atmospheric synths, then is followed by guitars aggressively and loudly entering the piece, only to have it end with a long sample. "Subsidize" has a more straightforward techno feel. The guitars start much further back in the mix, with lots of sampling. They gradually work their way forward in the mix, only to fade at the end. The lyrics are intelligent and thoughtful. They are Christ-centered but unlike many Christian lyrics aren't trite or formulaic.

    Inside your word I find my rest
    And by your grace I effloresce...effloresce.
    (from "Effloresce")

    and

    Shining His light into my darkness
    He is beginning the work
    The everlasting life
    Shining his light into my darkness
    The light piercing the dark from deep down inside.

    Defenses were put up
    And now torn down....

    I believe...in You!
    (from "Illumina (Defenseless)")

    This unquestionably well-done album is a must for the library of any industrial fan.

    4.5 tocks

    Other coverage for this album

    HM Magazine #74Reviewed by Brian Vincent McGovernBloom where you're planted. That's sort of a theme that's presented here, in the Way Sect Bloom's latest release. With better production than I've heard in a while from Flaming Fish, this project takes thumping electronic bass, drums, guitars, and distorted vocals, and systematically produces some good songs. Eerieness surrounds the CD, but, I surmise, that's merely a stylistic thing. Fans of…The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by Joe RockstrohThe Way Sect Bloom, one of the most highly touted offerings off the Flaming Fish roster, does not disappoint if you know what to expect from it. Almost all the reviews and articles I've read about TWSB have them billed as an industrial band, but I really don't think they should be described that way. I would be hard pressed to describe the band as industrial; I think a label of aggressive techno…

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