Album Review: Angel Attack – Divine Practicalities

The Breakdown

...wonderfully dark creations...

– 8.0

Angel Attack delivers his debut album Divine Practicalities on his label, House of Reptile. The Boston and London-based artist blends several sound palettes, sharing his most poignant body of work to date. The album includes two remixes by Univac and Blind Delon, respectively.

The title track acts as a prelude to the album. A broken-beat, experimental number, it dips into cinematic soundscapes and warbling percussion, which Angel Attack describes as an “introduction to summarise the emotions we are about to experience on the album.” Tightening Tension follows suit. It’s a mutation of broken techno with electro flavours over a malicious Moog bass-line, featuring the vocals of French producer IV Horsemen, whose lyrics conjure a smokey, bone-chilling atmosphere between skittery drums.

Angel Attack dives into a metal-edged mood on Ankles, stitching distorted riffs between broken beats. The energy is visceral. Come To Me is straight-up Japanese Horror-inspired electro, combining eerie textures with thudding kick drums and a gnarly scream — a freaky trip at just over five minutes.

Franco-Spanish author, singer, DJ and musician Pedro Peñas Robles, aka HIV+, features on Oblivion War. A sludgy, slow-burning soundscape ensues with a deluge of downtempo, hip-hop and EBM textures, complemented by HIV+’s gravelly voice. Whipping up the pace, Wrists blurs the lines between sci-fi, electro and goth. A stinging melody snakes between staccato claps and ghostly pads — lethal energy of the highest order.

Check out: Divine Practicalities

Forgotten is the postlude-type track of the album, and this is where Angel Attack’s interdisciplinary approach comes to life. It’s the most piercing tune of the release, complete with a guitar melody, stripped-back drums and pagan throat chants provided by Angel Attack. An introspective offering, staying with the listener long after the record stops spinning.

Angel Attack invites two of his favorite artists to remix Tightening Tension. Catalan producer Univac twists up the stems, serving a searing electro interpretation with a winding synthline and reverb-drenched vocals. On Blind Delon’s remix, the French synthwave and post-punk band seal the album with a dark and sultry 7-minute ride through noise. Potent synth notes and hair-raising vocals punctuate the soundscape, echoing the concept of the release: music as a mirror into the soul.

Verdict: Angel Attack lays down some wonderfully dark creations on this double LP, forging an immersive journey that traverses deeply brooding soundscapes. Heavy beats move through waves of atmospheric industrial sounds as the solid studio production allows the percussion and melodies to cut through the multiple layers, delivering a rich sound that isn’t weighed down by its complexities.