Arvio

The anxiously awaited Virgin Mind delivers from beginning to end. It is both the good old IRM that screams aboout infected maternal relationships and a completely new band. The background has been heavily expanded, mainly towards the directions Erik Jarl's solo project has favored. Martin Bladh's screams are still as they were, and they still work as the heart and focal point of Irm, even though they are just one of the bands strengths. The changing of style has alaways been a part of Irm's nature, meaning this change (too) is a move towards another direction of new power. In the very beginning there remains a sense of continuity with the old style, but after that uselful stepping stone the new, colder stuff takes over.

At least for me Virgin Mind revealed itself as extremely oppressive, being both intensely personal and extremely cryptic. Between the background and the vocals often stayed a clear structural difference, leading to an image of different paths that occasionally crossed one another. As a result of all this is born an album of immense impact that combines the strongest parts of death industrial, artistic noise and power electronics while still being true to the artists' own styles. This is clearly one of the finest experimental albums published in recent years, regardless of whether it is measured as a piece of sound art or on the basis of raw power. Something built out of all of its components, all of the songs on it, a holistic work the parts of which still work fine as isolated pieces (especially the wonderful Umbic Burns).

There is no unnecessary stuff included. The entire content of the double album deserves a place on it. I could dissect the strengths of this record still further, but I'll replace it all with just one statement:

A masterpiece.

Jiituomas

Irm - Virgin Mind

Kiihkolla odotettu Virgin Mind on täyttä tavaraa alusta loppuun. Se on sekä se ahdistuneen äitisuhteen tuskaisesti huutava IRM että aivan uudenlainen bändi. Taustoja on laajennettu valtavasti, pitkälti Erik Jarlin sooloprojektissaan suosimiin suuntiin. Martin Bladhin huuto sen sijaan on ennallaan, ja toimii yhä Irmin musiikin sydämenä ja kiintopisteenä, vaikka onkin vain osa yhtyeen kokonaissoinnin vahvuuksista.	Artisti: Irm Formaatti: 2CD Levy-yhtiö: Cold Meat Industry Julkaisuvuosi: 2005 Painos: 1000 kpl Kokonaiskesto: 56:53+56:11 Kappaleita: 8+7
Tyylin muuttuminen on aina ollut osa Irmin luontoa, ja tämä(kin) muutos on liike uuteen, vahvaan suuntaan. Aivan alussa säilyy vielä illuusio jatkuvuudesta edelliseen tyyliin, mutta tämän hyödyllisen "porrasaskelman" jälkeen siirrytään jo kolkompana soivaan tavaraan. Ainakin minulle Virgin Mind avatui erittäin ahdistavana, ollen yhtä aikaa sekä hyvin henkilökohtainen että erittäin kryptinen. Taustan ja vokaalien väliin rakentuu usein vielä selkeää eroa, niin että ne kulkevat ikään kuin eri polkuja, jotka kohtaavat hetkittäin. Kaiken tämän tuloksena syntyy erinomaisen voimakas levy, jossa on niin voimaelektroniikan, death industrialin kuin taidenoisenkin vahvimpia puoia, liitettynä yhdessä joksikin joka on selvästi tekijöiden itsensä näköistä. Tässä on selkeästi yksi viime vuosien hienoimmista kokeellisista levyistä, sekä taiteellisena luomuksena että tehokkuudella arvioituna. Kaikista osistaan, kaikista kappaleistaan muotoutuva kokonaisteos, jonka erilliset palaset silti toimivat yksinäänkin moitteettomasti (erityisesti upea Umbic Burns). Turha tavaraa ei ole, koko tuplalevyn sisällön läsnäolo on täysin perusteltua. Levyn vahvuuksia voisi vielä eritellä paljon pitempäänkin, mutta tyydyn yhteen sanaan: Mestarillinen. Jiituomas

Takaisin - Kokoelmat - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - R - S - T - U - V - W - Demot

The anxiously awaited Virgin Mind delivers from beginning to end. It is both the good old IRM that screams aboout infected maternal relationships and a completely new band. The background has been heavily expanded, mainly towards the directions Erik Jarl's solo project has favored. Martin Bladh's screams are still as they were, and they still work as the heart and focal point of Irm, even though they are just one of the bands strengths. The changing of style has alaways been a part of Irm's nature, meaning this change (too) is a move towards another direction of new power. In the very beginning there remains a sense of continuity with the old style, but after that uselful stepping stone the new, colder stuff takes over. At least for me Virgin Mind revealed itself as extremely oppressive, being both intensely personal and extremely cryptic. Between the background and the vocals often stayed a clear structural difference, leading to an image of different paths that occasionally crossed one another. As a result of all this is born an album of immense impact that combines the strongest parts of death industrial, artistic noise and power electronics while still being true to the artists' own styles. This is clearly one of the finest experimental albums published in recent years, regardless of whether it is measured as a piece of sound art or on the basis of raw power. Something built out of all of its components, all of the songs on it, a holistic work the parts of which still work fine as isolated pieces (especially the wonderful Umbic Burns). There is no unnecessary stuff included. The entire content of the double album deserves a place on it. I could dissect the strengths of this record still further, but I'll replace it all with just one statement: A masterpiece. Jiituomas