Mission to the Sun - Cleansed By Fire

Mission to the Sun synthesizes ambient, post-industrial
landscapes with expansive arrangements and haunting vocals.
Comprised of Christopher Samuels (synths, samples,
programming) of Ritual Howls and Kirill Slavin (vocals), the
Detroit-based duo creates an atmosphere of lamentation for a
world left behind. Fragments of industrial noise and hypnotic
synths fill Samuels' foreboding, alien terrain, and it's in this
vastness that SlavinÕs voice mourns the drudgery of everyday
life and the loss of universal consciousness.
The duo's debut album, Cleansed by Fire, takes the listener on
a journey home to the inferno of the sun, navigating memories
of a life lived, dissolved into time. A wind of desolation opens
"Take Me Back," with Slavin mourning for a return home to a
distant reality. The song uses repetition to build a somber
ambience while maintaining a spaciousness sparsely accented
by noise with care and precision. Slavin's lyrics examine the
conflict and paradoxes that riddle the human condition with
Samuel's instrumentation providing a fitting backdrop. "The
Unbroken Sea" illustrates this symbiotic reflection with a
propulsive bass line contradicted by ethereal synths that swell
and contract, only to be finally engulfed by a pulsating
crescendo of rhythmic noise at the end. The dystopian title
track "Cleansed by Fire" marches steadily along to a creeping
darkwave rhythm. The basic elements of dance music are
there, yet the song remains devoid of danceability. Punctuated
by lyrics inspired by J.G. Ballard and technological isolation, a
glimmer of pop sensibility can be found beneath the haze of the
track's potent mood.
Mission to the Sun beautifully captures an alien feeling: one
ripe with despair and longing, one that doesn't quite belong to
this world or time. A slow, satisfying burn, Cleansed by Fire
traverses the dystopian past and present, while moving toward
the future.