Review: Croona – 'Memento Mori'

CROONA 

'Memento Mori' 

INFACTED RECORDINGS 

Fredrik Croon already has an impressive resume that boasts industrial and aggrotech acts such as Menschdefekt,Project Rotten and Cynical Existence. However, this time around he's gone in a slightly different direction, dropping the heavily distorted vocals of his previous work, and embracing a cleaner singing style. 'Memento Mori' is an album that leans heavily on the melodic and emotional elements of genres like futurepop and synthpop, while still embracing the dark electro and metal influences of his previous work, in a blend he has christened Aggropop.

The result is a more diverse and and varied approach that pushes his skills as a songwriter into new and interesting directions. There are still dark elements bubbling away below the surface and the odd heavier embellishment, but overall this is a richer and more melodic style that retains a solid dance appeal and feels more well rounded that the unfettered aggression of previous projects.

Songs such as 'Into The Shadows', 'Mine', 'Ashes From The Past', 'A New Dawn', 'The Day I Died', 'Rise Again, and 'When all Is Said And Done' give the album a solid back bone of dance beats, trance-like melodies, airy textures and clean that definitely play up on the pop element of his self-christened sound. Yet tracks like 'Bleed For Me', 'Regret', and 'It's Over' with their darker tones and harsher vocals provide a nice heavy counterpart and link back to his previous works.

In terms of production the album definitely captures more of the polished 'pop' feel than the heavier offerings in Croona's previous projects. It's still hits hard where it needs to and even the instrumental tracks maintain a compelling edge despite their dance floor focus. It effectively switches between the dark, heavy elements and the more melodic and leaves the album feeling nicely balanced.

This is a strong outing from Croona and it's definitely something he should build on, playing with the nature of his new aggropop style and seeing how far he can push it in every direction. Hopefully there will be much more in the near future.

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Review: Fredrik Croona – 'This Is Goodbye'

FREDRIK CROONA
'This Is Goodbye'
ADVOXYA RECORDS

Fredrik Croona, the man behind acts Menschdefekt, ex-Project Rotten and Cynical Existence returns with his third solo outing in the form of 'This Is Goodbye'. Croona may be more well known for his more aggrotech orientated projects, but his solo work has seen him explore styles such as futurepop, trance and ebm as well to create far more diverse offerings and sowing off a wider range of songwriting skills.

'This Is Goodbye' sees the return of those familiar elements but at the same time twists them into darker territory than on the previous two releases. The effect of which as a more mature and actualised feel than the last two outings.

Songs such as 'As I Opened My Eyes (Feat. Ruined Conflict)', 'Leave Me Behind', 'Lies (Feat. Adoration Destroyed)', 'This Life', 'Lida (2017 edit), 'You're Never Alone', and 'Diabolical Intent (2017 Edit)' provide the album with a backbone of polished melodies, strong dance beats and a mix of clean and distorted vocals that nicely switches up the feeling of the album.

However, the instrumental tracks that bookend the album – 'Into The Unknown (Feat. Worms Of The Earth) and 'This Is Goodbye (Feat. Cold Therapy)' – as well as the central track 'My Bleeding Heart', are just as interesting as the more club-friendly core tracks. They set the pace for the album with their more ambient elements mixed with purer electro-industrial to create a more ominous atmosphere that reverberates through the rest of the tracks.

In terms of the production this again sees a nice development from Croona's previous solo releases. Although his heavier work with Cynical Existence is arguably more polished, this album takes more risks and the production responds well to keep things going in the right direction.

This is perhaps the most solid solo album from Croona to date. One that continues to see his scope and ambition grow beyond the realms of the genre constrictions of Cynical Existence and alows him more room to experiment. It's an experiment that is going really well and hopefully the title isn't an indication that he is saying goodbye to his solo work when it begins to hint at yet more interesting directions to explore. 

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Review: Fredrik Croona – 'The Grey Line'

FREDRIK CROONA
'The Grey Line'
ADVOXYA RECORDS

Fredrik Croona will already be a familiar name to fans of aggrotech due to his work with Cynical Existence, Project Rotten and Menschdefekt. But like any good artist there is always new directions to explore, and with that in mind he has launched his first solo album under his own name in the form of 'The Grey Line'. Starting in familiar aggrotech territory as a foundation, Croona infuses elements of futurepop, trance and the result is a nice blend of harsh and soft sounds finding a balance that is seriously club friendly.

The album gets off to a bit of a slow start with the first track 'Always The Same' sounding a bit derivative. However, songs such as 'Everytime I Die', 'The Pain', 'Close Your Eyes', 'Disgrace',, 'Coming Down', 'I Tried', and 'The Path' show off the true power of Croona's vision with an infectious blend of steady beats, strong synth leads and a good mix of clean and distorted vocals. The futurepop elements give a nice depth to the songs which along with Croona's use of clean vocals add more emotion to the songs, which are counterpointed nicely with the aggrotech underbelly.

There are a few points where it doesn't quite come together. Not so much in terms of the formula, but the final execution doesn't seem quite up to the standard of the likes of Menschdefekt and Cynical Existence etc. However Croona digs deep and when it does come together it does so in a big way.

The mix is pretty solid as well. There is plenty of that dirty aggrotech grit mixed in that Croona does so well. But the futurepop and trance elements are definitely discernible throughout the majority of the album and the production keeps up with the pace nicely.

It may start off a little shaky but 'The Grey Line' is ultimately another triumph for Croona. The sonic formula keeps you interested and throws out some great dance-friendly tracks. The album maintains a nice pace and there is a darker and more smooth vibe running throughout thanks to those clean vocals in particular. This is a nice foundation on which to build, so hopefully this won't be a one-time-only deal and we'll hear more from this project in the future.

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