Pieces of Life |AR3A, 2010| 
1. Jack the Stripper Ripper, 2. Devil's Sky, 3. FUX, 4. The Next Night, 5. Suck the Poison Out, 6. F3AR M3, 7. CR45H, 8. Lost v2.0, 9. Interlude 17
AR3A is based in Houston, Texas and was founded in 1992 r. After three years it became a one man project led by multi-instrumentalist David W. (Vocals, Synths, and Guitars). The band didn’t tour often, preferring the studio over live events. David is supported by James P. (Synths, programming) in the recording studio, while Robert Guerrero (Guitars) i Rachel Bennett (Synths) along with various drummers join them for the purpose of live shows.
The "Pieces of Life" album is the first full studio achievement of the band whose previous releases were the singles mostly. It’s a very interesting album at the same time, mixing guitar driven industrial rock influences with murky trip-hop and drum’n’bass electronics.
There are both cutting edge riffs as well as quiet or danceable parts, however every one of them sounds very balanced, not mechanically but mathematically more, since composing music is not only an emotional thing. There’s also aggression („Jack the Stripper Ripper”, „CR45H”), gloom („Devil's Sky”, „The Next Night”, „F3AR M3”) and trance (clubbers should thank the band for "Lost v2.0”, recalling Nitzer Ebb music vibes). A piano based outro "Interlude 17” ends the album.
It seems the musicians who comprise AR3A take their music unnecessarily humble. I keep getting review inquiries from so called ‘music stars’ who promote themselves aggressively, while they’d be better off to focus on professions other than ‘music’ since their songs don’t meet any professional standards to be considered for reviews.
AR3A shouldn’t feel any resistance to show off with their tunes and tour more often than they did before. To me, their music could fill club rooms when playing along with such relative bands like
Acumen Nation,
16Volt,
Left Spine Down,
Triptaka,
Chemlab or
RevCo. I also think that Canadian and Chicago industrial scenes should like them the most since there are usually some fresh bands mixing guitars with electronics and making unique compositions.
"Pieces of Life" stands as a candidate for the most interesting album of the year because it was released at the beginning of 2010. At the same time I’d like to encourage media and podcasters to pay attention to AR3A finally.
(Katarzyna 'NINa' Górnisiewicz, 03/25/2010. Proofreading: Scott M. Owens. Must not be used for promotional or commercial purposes. See a Legal Note for the copyrights below)
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