Immanent is Lewis' sole album release under the H.A.L.O. banner and is a natural progression from his He Said work. After a rather sombre one-minute introduction, the remainder of the album is mostly industrial pop along the lines of NIN. Some of these tracks work better than others, such as The Outlook is Exotic, which is an impressive piece that weaves bizarre narratives around distorted guitars and thumping rhythms. At other times it seems the hard electro-beats and frantic guitars carry the release a little too much, with the content being a little lacking.

The slower, more thoughtful tracks tend to be the most successful such as Skip the Sausage with its curious stories 'Breakfast is a sad experience/What have all the inmates done wrong, to be here?/Jesus, I'm just passing through/Skipped the sausage again...' Eyes Fly and Eclipsed (with entrancing overlaid acoustic guitar by Thomas Hedqvist) are other standout tracks. (An additional three mixes of Eclipsed and one of Eyes Fly are included on the US WMO version of this release.)

Fans of hard-edged pop mixed with a little experimentation will probably lap this up but be aware that you may find Immanent becoming samey after repeated listens.

Craig Grannell (1998)

• MNW
• CD, 1997

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