Track Listing

1. Scot2
2. Faqt
3. Olos
4. Never Ever
5. Night
6. The Dead
7. Xor Process
8. Lioc
9. Desolation
10. Test Department

          This entire disk was recorded, mixed, and mastered with computers. Although that would be an amazing accomplishment twenty years ago, today it takes quite a bit more to raise any eyebrows. Unfortunately that's where CTRL fall short. "Secure the Shadow" definitely has it's moments, but overall it doesn't really have any qualities that set it apart from the latest crop of pentium inspired underground acts. Some of the synth work is fairly unsophisticated, and instead of a simplicity that complements the music as a whole it leaves some room for improvement. The only thing the music actually suffers from, though, is the singing. It tends to dictate the rest of the music, and in songs like "Olos" and "Never Ever" the vocals have a Van Halenish staccato quality that reminds me of my old neighbours' music at two in the morning. "Scot2's" chorus is accompanied by what sounds like a sample of a Star Trek laser that is played in succession about twenty times. Aside from that minor annoyance, sampling is actually one common electronic trend that is surprisingly absent from this disk. The opening synth line to the song "Faqt" sounds very similar to an older Front 242 track, which lets some of CTRL's influences show through. "Secure the Shadow" is a good attempt, but to be brutally honest it's shortcomings unfortunately outweigh it's strong points.

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