Pendulum – Immersion (2010)

posted by record facts

Pendulum is an Australian electronic rock band founded in 2002.
Pendulum originally formed in the city of Perth, Western Australia, by Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen and Paul “El Hornet” Harding.
The band was later expanded to include members Ben Mount, Peredur ap Gwynedd and KJ Sawka.
The group is notable for its distinctive sound, mixing electronic music with hard rock and covering a wide range of genres.

Pendulum’s third album, Immersion, is something of a hybrid of the group’s first two albums, reverting back to the debut’s foundation in drum ‘n’ bass while also referencing the widened stylistic scope of 2008’s In Silico.
While it provides a fair amount of material for those who prefer either release, Immersion also stretch out here, leaning heavily toward industrial-style rock on a handful of tracks while veering toward metal on “Self vs. Self.”
“The Island,” meanwhile, is surprisingly pop-oriented.
The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett guests on “Immunize,” one of the bold album’s more raucous moments.

It offers more rock and more dance, but most importantly more fun. And when it’s good, it’s very good indeed.
Lead single Watercolour is the essential bridge between albums, but sounds diluted compared with much that surrounds it, tracks that fire on significantly more cylinders.
The absolute standout is the two-part, mid-record peak of The Island. Dawn is fairly conventional fare, a thick synth line guiding a relatively conventional indie-rock arrangement to a pause; but when it stirs again it does so in unprecedented fashion.
Dusk is Pendulum gone Ed Banger, playing at being Justice and coming across as more than imitators – for perhaps the first time in their career, the sextet sounds innovative.
It genuinely thrills, as all manner of dizzying beats and bleeps duck and weave around each other. It’s going to be absolutely massive live.
The band’s rock side is explored like never before on Self Vs. Self, which features Swedish metallers In Flames. Excellently, the riffs don’t sound simply tacked on, presenting the sense that this is a collaboration proper rather than a phoned-in performance for rock scene kudos.
Liam Howlett shows up too, on Immunize – it’s a welcome gesture, given how Pendulum have obviously leaned on The Prodigy’s catalogue for inspiration. As Encoder closes proceedings, an unexpected conclusion presents itself: somehow, Pendulum have crafted an album, their best yet, almost as enjoyable as their frenetic live performances.

 

Track listing

  1. Genesis – 1:09
  2. Salt in the Wounds – 6:38
  3. Watercolour – 5:04
  4. Set Me on Fire – 5:02
  5. Crush – 4:13
  6. Under the Waves – 4:54
  7. Immunize (featuring Liam Howlett) – 4:36
  8. The Island – Pt.I (Dawn) – 5:20
  9. The Island – Pt.II (Dusk) – 4:09
  10. Comprachicos – 2:48
  11. The Vulture – 4:03
  12. Witchcraft – 4:12
  13. Self vs. Self (featuring In Flames) – 4:45
  14. The Fountain (featuring Steven Wilson) – 5:00
  15. Encoder – 5:21

All tracks are written by Rob Swire, except where noted

Sample credits

  • “We Do the Killing” by Cocoa Tea, written by C. Scott, W. Riley, used on “Set Me on Fire”

B-side

The track “Ransom” was originally included in the album but it was later dropped as it “didn’t fit the sound of the album”. The band later stated that “Ransom will be either released as a free download to fans or a B-side but it will definitely see the light of day”. Rob Swire later stated that “Ransom” won’t be released because he found the song to be “boring” after the intro; however, he added that most of the project files for the song were corrupted when his MacBook hard drive malfunctioned. However, on 6 April 2011, “Ransom” was released as a download-only single on the group’s website in aid of Japan’s earthquake appeal, and it entered the UK Singles Chart at number 193 the following week.

 

Pendulum

  • Rob Swire – vocals on “Watercolour”, “Crush”, “Under the Waves”, “Immunize”, “The Island – Pt.I (Dawn)”, “The Island – Pt. II (Dusk)”, “Comprachicos”, “Witchcraft”, “Self vs. Self”, guitar on “Under the Waves”, “Comprachicos”
  • Ben Mount – vocals on “The Vulture”
  • Peredur ap Gwynedd – guitar on “Crush”, “The Vulture”, “Witchcraft”, “Self vs. Self”, “The Fountain”, “Encoder”
  • Gareth McGrillen – bass guitar on “Comprachicos”, “Witchcraft”
  • KJ Sawka – drums on “Crush”, “Comprachicos”, “Witchcraft”, “Self vs. Self”, “Encoder”, percussions on “The Island – Pt.I (Dawn)”, “The Island – Pt. II (Dusk)”, “The Vulture”, “Encoder”

Guest musicians

Additional musicians

  • Andy Greenwood – brass on “Watercolour”
  • Andy Wood – brass on “Watercolour”
  • Craig Wild – brass on “Watercolour”
  • Adrian Revell – brass on “Watercolour”
  • Martin Williams – brass on “Watercolour”
  • Samantha Beagley – vocals on “The Vulture”

Production and design

  • Rob Swire – production, mixing
  • Gareth McGrillen – production, except for “Genesis” and “The Fountain”
  • Liam Howlett – production on “Immunize”
  • Brad Kohn – mixing (drums only) on “Crush” and “Encoder”, editing assistant
  • Brian “Big Bass” Gardner – mastering
  • Storm Thorgerson (in collaboration with Valp Maciej Hajnrich) – artwork

Studios

  • Pendulum HQ – mixing
  • Brain Gardner Mastering – mastering

Notes
Released: 21 May 2010
Recorded: 2008–2010[citation needed]
Genre: Electronic rock, industrial rock, drum and bass
Length: 67:14
Producer(s): Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen

Label – Warner Music UK, Earstorm, Atlantic

Leave a comment