( download the whole album for free at www.soundclick.com/fraqturedsound ) Fraqtured Sound The End of All Things Broken Audio Recordings Posted: Monday, July 06, 2009 By: Dillon Carlyon Harder-end EBM that takes its time weaving an intricate matrix of instrumentation and effects. Fraqtured Sound hail from Portland, Oregon. For a newer act, this release packs quite a punch. The melodies and synth hooks on The End of All Things are inventive and well built, taking plenty of time to create a complex and evocative setup at the beginning of each track; the listener almost feels trapped at the center of a spider’s web. The vocals, a raspy and distant male presence, are fairly typical of newer industrial and EBM, but they possess a very biting quality that digs at the core and ignites hate, anger, and passion. “Left Behind” is an impressive intro, starting off with a repeated pulse of soft percussion that leads into a vocal sample declaring “You must be judged!” after which the real fireworks begin: the beat becomes harder and more piercing, the vocals attack full force, and the simple synth melody multiplies in complexity. “Compatible” has a long intro that carefully and expertly mixes breaths and distant echoes into coruscating, precarious synths that blend seamlessly across the low, mid, and high ranges. “Connection Broken” has a slightly quicker and more club-friendly beat, while the many levels of synth tones suggest a jagged, icy prison where the vocals exist only as a rather enjoyable torment. “Early Mourning” features a recapitulated low tone that supports a lighter melody, while the blunt, slow beat, which occasionally goes double-time, moves things along at a slightly nervous pace that fills the air with anticipation. The vocals in “966b” become more of a tortured whisper, while the beat has a tearing feel to it, this one actually reminds of some of Numb’s finer moments. The vocals undergo yet another transmutation in the dir:/td Remix of “Connection Fixed,” in which the connection sounds anything but fixed, instead coming across as an attempt to crash the grid with multi-level synths that flow in sync and seem dissonant at the same time. The End of All Things is excellent from start to finish; seldom boring, always moving, and surprisingly entertaining. The overall range of sound seems a bit thin at times, but what has been done with it is brilliant. If you like hard vocals, harder beats, and well thought out electronic instrumentation, then this is for you.