Celldweller (Definitive Edition)

The brain behind Celldweller is Klayton (aka Klay Scott). The producer, songwriter, performer, and musical gypsy has been associated with numerous projects, including the Christian industrial outfits Circle of Dust and Argyle Park. As a producer, Klayton has worked with Prong and is involved with New York-based illusionist Criss Angel. Celldweller derives its name partly from the long hours Klayton spent in his home studio crafting its elaborate, production-heavy cocktail of trance, drum'n'bass, and heavy industrial guitar. The project ranges from the aggressive, X Games-style active rock of "Switchback" to the emotive, melodic "Afraid This Time," which recalls the crystalline style of fellow production whiz kid BT. Klayton's industrial background is evident in his vocals, which alternate between throaty yelling and a half-whisper. The album is strikingly melodic, with hooks galore, even on the overdriven metal of "One Good Reason." And Klayton's obvious debt to Trent Reznor can be forgiven, since it's difficult not to emulate the iconographic musician in a genre that he redefined. However, while Reznor's obsessively produced music still bleeds reality, Celldweller suffers from too much refinement. It's almost as if a rogue ProTools rig conceived and produced the album itself, in some sort of nightmare combination of 2001 and Demond Seed. Klayton's humanity barely registers behind elaborate vocal processing, lush beds of trance-y keyboards, and rarefied edges on Celldweller's towering walls of guitar. ~ Johnny Loftus