Krebs | World in Ashes

What happens when you fuse industrial dance music with a heavy beat, a little groove, a little rock and some heavy ’80s-style synth? Though it has only been around for couple of years, Krebs has really made a mark by putting a new twist on the industrial sound. This is a genre that I have never really been into personally, but with songs strongly influenced by other genres, this is not your average dance club music, and I like it. A lot.

Largely instrumental, but with some backing vocal, which, for some reason, made me think of Marilyn Manson for a moment ~ an odd vision with this style of music. Yet Krebs evoked it in a way that worked for me somehow.

Though it sounds like it took many people to get the music to have the multi-dimensional quality it does, it’s really just the work of one guy pouring everything he has into something audibly tangible.

Michael Haggerty, the brainchild behind Krebs (see Biology 101 for an explanation of the name), is a big fan of Sci-Fi and zombies and told Pulse that “groovy and heavy” is his favorite sound combo and that he attempted to make the album as diverse as possible.

“It’s really an album influenced by video games and a lot of dystopian ideas, so the sound was supposed to convey a sense of doom,” Haggerty said. In fact, this CD would be right at home in a video game or movie soundtrack ~ some kind of high-tech, futuristic club or chase scene would suffice.

To download World in Ashes for free, head over to BluntFaceRecords.com and shoot Michael some love over on his Facebook page, facebook.com/krebsofficial.

Framing Hanley | The Sum of Who We Are

“I can’t erase my past, but I can rewrite the end,” Kenneth Nixon sings during “Crash & Burn” on Framing Hanley’s new record, The Sum of Who We Are. Many listeners may have written off FH after some unforeseen setbacks, but after a long wait, the alternative group’s highly anticipated third outing ~ funded by its fans through a Kickstarter campaign ~ has finally dropped, and it doesn’t disappoint.

With the strong support of its fans, there’s undoubtedly added pressure on FH throughout The Sum of Who We Are to return the favor, and instead of folding under that pressure, the group embraces it. Filled with catchy hooks and big, memorable choruses, Nixon & Co. leave no stone unturned. There are heavy, up-tempo rockers like “Twisted Halos” that deliver a jolt of energy and slower numbers like the melancholy closer “Castaway,” but what stays consistent throughout the entire listen is melody. Never once does the voice in any of the songs get lost, whether literally in the vocal harmonies or through the instrumentation. The vocals in “Rollercoaster,” featuring singer Lynsdey Stamey alongside Nixon, is infectious, with each singer complementing the other perfectly, while the radio-friendly ballad “Unbreakable” is an honest confession with a deeply dreamlike embrace.

The Sum of Who We Are is a thank you by FH to its fans and a reminder that the band is still here and not going away. It can be exciting to hear a young, resilient band on the rise, and Framing Hanley certainly is one.

Visit the official site at framinghanley.net.

Disclosure | Settle 

The debut album from UK dance trance duo Disclosure comes off the heels of its closing set at Coachella this spring, where the duo made many a stateside fan for its hypnotic house grooves. House music is meant for the repeat button, and with Settle, press repeat you will. At first, it will be to discern one song from the next, since they meld effortlessly into one another or, depending on your school of thought, sound too much the same.

There will be inevitable comparisons to 2013 Grammys favorite Daft Punk and that duo’s latest album, Random Access Memories, but Settle can stand on its own if the sameness doesn’t sour you. Much of the album is both rhythmically and lyrically hypnotic, and it’s meant for grooving, Sunday Funday-ing, and yes, maybe some sexy time, with its up- tempo and layered beats. There’s a confidence in its subtlety, and on this electronica album, the rhythms are the shining stars, despite the inclusion of soon-to-be-biggies like Eliza Doolittle, Sam Smith, Jessie Ware and certified-star Mary J. Blige.

You’ll find the incomparable Mary J. on the deluxe edition, which includes four additional songs, including the must-have jam where she lends her voice, “F For You.” Another catchy track that stands out from the crowd is “When A Fire Starts to Burn.” Yes, the songs do tend to sound like one another, but when it works, it works, and this just lets you slide into the next tune without missing ~ yeah, we’re going to say it ~ a beat.

For all the latest from Disclosure, visit disclosureoffical.com.