Prospero - Spreading the Infection

How am I going to even attempt to write a review that isn't too glowing and too tainted with obvious bias, a review that will appear as though I have actually attempted to view this release objectively? This was what I wondered to myself as soon as Spreading the Infection, the debut (styled) release of Prospero fell into my hands, as it was a certainty that this release was going to please me.

I've been a big fan of Prospero's music from the very beginning, as seen by the fact that Prospero has appeared on every single CD release that I've been a part of creating: both Saturation Bombing compilations, a bonus track on "[tik] co:man:d [sic]" and a new awesome track on my latest brainchild, the brand new bugs crawling out of people debut compilation, "revelation". But even if we ignore all this (and ignore the more than obvious plug for "revelation", the best compilation you'll hear in a long time), this double CD has much more to offer and to impress the already impressed, with remixes by This Morn' Omina, Empusae, Remain Silent, Flint Glass, s:cage, Displacer, Xorcist, Vo1d and more. All of these remixes are by bands whose music I enjoy thoroughly. That Prospero has also sought to expand on the idea by doing collaborative tracks with the likes of Pneumatic Detach, Displacer, re_agent and Battery Cage is an incredible idea (so simple and yet so often ignored). He does what so many other bands fail to do, and reaches out towards other styles to use them as a catalyst for adding something extra to his music. By nature, Prospero tracks have no vocals, but now a few do, with the assistance of Justin Tripp (re_agent) and Tyler Newman (Battery Cage).

And of course, there is the addition of the track co:man:d which is a Prospero remix of the live jam of converter, manufactura, displacer, s:cage and prospero that ended the legendary [tik] co:man:d [sic] concert.

So you see, I was already expecting something quite awesome before even putting the CDs into the player. That Prospero would surpass my expectations was something that I expected and received. To put it simply: This is, in my admittedly biased opinion, a fucking awesome release.

Squid @ January 2005