Album a Day: Celldweller - Celldweller

History has shown us time and again that new things are frightening. When my friend Kilean first played Celldweller I wasn't really sure what to think about the album, though I knew I had to hear more so I contacted the label and asked if they could send me a copy. As I listened to it more I started to find songs I could identify with but others still seemed odd. Then as time went by the odd songs began to grow on me as well. Change is good and Klayton, the mastermind behind Celldweller, is no stranger to change. Technically this self-titled 2003 release is the debut of the Celldweller act, this is not Klayton's first rodeo, having performed/fronted a number of projects under various aliases that might start to sound familiar including Circle of Dust, Argyle Park, and Angeldust (alongside illusionist Criss Angel). I absolutely love this album and this project may be the most mature work that Klayton has ever done. Both the initial sense of confusion and later love for the album is really rooted in the genre-blending that Klayton implements in his work. With mixes of metal, industrial, EBM, drum 'n bass, house, and trance, at first you would think would just not go well together but Klayton just has such a clear understanding of music and taste level that he knows what works well, when to push forward and when to step back. This level of musical aptitude goes even further as Klayton was able to involve a lot of experimentation and retain a lot of hooks that allows for the album to be so accessible to the general audience while enabling thought from the complexities of the album. There's also really nice contributions to the album by Jarrod Montague from Taproot lending his drumming skills on the track I Believe You and electronic artist Fluffy Starr adding vocals to Frozen, The Stars of Orion, and Welcome To The End. I think the first half of the album is the catchier part with tracks like the very catchy Switchback, which later became a single with a music video. Klayton has said that there were about 50 demos for Switchback (two of my favorites being included the Beta Cessions, a two-disc compilation of early versions and instrumentals from this album) and all the hard work really shows in the finished product. The first half of the album also includes some highlights like Stay With Me (Unlikely), Under My Feet, and Afraid This Time, but I think the real gems are the two longer tracks (both coming in at over seven minutes) The Last Firstborn and Frozen. The Last Firstborn is really what I was talking about earlier when it comes to experimentation on this disc as the song moves back and forth between metal driven industrial and a mix of drum 'n bass and Goa style trance. Again, this would seem to be too much to handle there's something about it that just works. Frozen is a little bit more traditional but might be the underrated club track of the album just on its pure raw energy and emotion alone. One of my favorite aspects about the album does come in the latter half where Klayton demonstrates a technique implemented on Circle of Dust's Disengaged wherein Klayton takes songs from earlier in the album and reconfigures them in a way that I wouldn't quite calling remixing but rather re-imagining. Here it is with the song Stay With Me (Unlikely) which he turns inside out for the track later in the album entitled Unlikely (Stay With Me). The result isn't one of my favorite songs but still interesting nonetheless. Overall I think this is just a really solid album that has a great flow that is as good whole as it is separate and has spawned several remix CDs, a collection of early versions and instrumentals, and a number of online remix contests (and most of this additional material is certainly worth exploring). Favorite Tracks: Switchback, Stay With Me (Unlikely), The Last Firstborn, Under My Feet, Frozen, Afraid This Time, and So Sorry To Say