2021 has been a busy year for synthwave; Perturbator, Hante., GosT and Hollywood Burns have all released material under the banner of the splintered genre. While some have embraced post-punk and death-metal influences and explored themes of witchcraft and addiction. It is time for near ten-year veteran, Dynatron, to enter the spotlight. Back from his five-year hiatus, the Danish artist has returned with his third album Origins.
Origins greets us with opening track “A New Place“, Dynatron picking up where he left off with smooth layered synths that begin to breathe life to the story of the next 45 minutes. Business picks up in the following track, “Close Encounter”. The opening pitched synths are overtaken by a booming guitar riffs that command the track, beautifully mixed in with the synths to create a layer of sound that gives a feeling of grandiose. The first use of a choir blends in smoothly with the now range of synths at play. In short, Dynatron is back.
The title track “Origins” offers up some blissful synth along with 808 drums backing it, closing out in the final two minutes with soothing keys. With “The Portal” the emphasis is shifted to the powering backing drums that are surrounded by warping synths. Finally adding in a twinkly synth hook that prevents the song becoming pure tension.
In a somewhat clunky shift in tone and scale, “Tumbling Upwards” presents a standard drum groove with some pleasant chord work on the synths. The growling synths hidden away in the background with some impressive tempo work make this a simple but enjoyable listen. “Future” is an atmospheric soundscape, from the opening the drawn synths give that ethereal feeling of space, a glisten at the end of the main hook brings a strange sense of joy to the track.
Looming synths open “Uncertain Destiny“, building up a sense of unease as they hang around on the opening of the track. Regular service is resumed with the backing beat and synths entering the fray along with some quirky synth work. While there is an attempt to add some life to the track with some key work, the track generally passes by at this point in Origins. Thankfully, the grand finale of the album lives up to it. From the outset there is an intent to “The Machine“, Dynatron thrives on the heavy tempo and high tension songs. The thick synth layered into the drum beat with a catchy hook captures the imagination. “Epilogue” serves as a tidy closer to the album, gentle synthwork combined with keys, eases the album out after the intensity of “The Machine“. It’s also a testament to Dynatron in his ability to shift tonally between songs without dropping in quality.
Each track has a meticulous attention to detail, with each listen something new to hear. While picking a familiar setting to build its atmosphere around, the cinematic atmosphere of Origins‘ feels dynamic and compelling. There is no attempt with Origins to redefine the genre, instead Dynatron reminds us that there is still plenty left within synthwave from those with the ability to do so.
Origins will release on October 15th via Blood Music and you can find pre-orders here.
8.5/10