By Vinnie Apicella

Taking the concept of experimentalism to its extreme limits and beyond, Apollyon Sun, the latest venture from former Celtic Frost leader Thomas Gabriel Fischer, ambitiously explores musical boundaries that many of his era have feared to tread. With "Sub", the listener will become deeply submerged in a morphing of modern artistry that sees the raping of the latest technology to such a degree that only a gleaned fray of cross-circuitry sits in a bundled mess in its place… Y2K compliant and then some! Anyone familiar with Fischer's past work knows he's not about playing it safe for the sake of creative sacrifice. "Sub" is the future and Apollyon Sun provides the means for arriving there… an evolutionary vision that sees the future arrive quickly from the opening moments of "Dweller", a defining moment that crashes down right from the start onto the soon to be discovered shocking revelations that burn throughout-"Reefer Boy", "Feeder", "Messiah (Second Coming)". Realism set to a surrealistic flood of possibilities leading us further away from our present position, we're left "Naked Underground", truly alone and blind in a hellish condition not of our own making yet we endure. In following, "Slender" and "Human III" conceptually further the calming influence in an emotionally bending turn of events, painfully direct and personally reflective. Darkly contemplative and savagely sudden, Apollyon Sun applies a whole new definition to what's normally referred to as state-of-the-art and will require a few, maybe several listens to truly comprehend while the frequent use of transient subtleties slowly begin to unfold. "Sub" is an embodiment of razor-edged grooves, blatant misuse of overdubbing and stunning production work from noted producer Roli Mosimann as well as the band themselves, where each track plots its own subversive course, destination unknown but restlessly dissatisfied where it is… The work behind the creation of "Sub" makes you think of the strides first made by the likes of Ministry and Nine Inch Nails among others, fueled by heavy industrial-strength power ("Mother Misplaced", "Concrete Satan") and high-tech escapism that exhumes full use of subhuman resources in an atmospherically disturbing and socially relevant techno-clash!

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