A Review of the Album ``Chimera'' by d.notive

Under review is another album of music I've liked, available for listening and purchase on Bandcamp:
https://dnotive.bandcamp.com/album/chimera

This musician has a few fairly good albums, and I chose to review his newest.  Each usually has some
wild story accompanying it, as does this album.  Knowing the title suffices for this album, however.

The album entries follow ordered by my preference, their names, their durations, and album ordering:

            Chimera (ft. Melissa Medina) 05:14 2
=                                  Alter 03:17 4
= Opposite Equals (ft. Haribol Attitude) 03:49 3
=       The Ultimatum (ft. Carl Skildum) 04:34 6
>                            Retribution 05:10 5
>                      Forgotten Futures 01:20 1

The first track starts off slowly with a mix of cool atmospheric noises, and just a few instruments.
It continues so until the very end, when it bleeds into the following track, which has more variety.

The second track begins gently with only two instruments before adding an electronic instrument, and
another, and another.  The track's tempo increases after the first fifth.  The vocals are added near
the halfway point, and the tempo decreases for a bit afterwards before returning to roughly the same
speed after a nice buildup phase.  The latter third uses similar but different instruments until the
end.  Unlike that first track, this song ends cleanly, and so needs no gapless playback to enjoy it.

The third track begins with vocals and a few instruments, keeping these vocals throughout the entire
song, unlike the second track which has only a brief stint with vocals.  This track's tempo isn't as
fast as the second, and the lyrics can be difficult to understand at times; were I to care about the
story being told, they'd probably make more sense.  Halfway through, the lyrics change in a way I've
come to associate with this artist; it's a manner of voice manipulation I find difficult to describe
beyond perhaps slowing and increasing in pitch.  This song also dies out much like the second track.

The fourth track also begins with vocals, this time from the album artist himself, and an instrument
or two alongside some environmental noise.  The theme is one of transformation.  The song completely
changes in the second third, speeding up and changing out its instruments.  The final third begins a
section with no vocals before returning to something similar but changed from how the track started.
This song dies out to end, but the simplest connection between it and the next track can be noticed.

The fifth track builds up from two or three instruments for the first fifth, increasing in speed and
becoming a little repetitive for the second fifth.  The third fifth is centered around introductions
of one new instrument and then its replacement.  The second half is similarly repetitive, but with a
different instrument in a different way.  The theme would have to be quick movement against a limit;
that's the tone, anyway.  It's pleasant to hear, but I see it as hard to describe more meaningfully.

The sixth and final track opens with a guitar, and I believe a keyboard of some sort, for nearly the
first minute, before adding drums and increasing the tempo.  Unlike the other tracks, and what makes
it stand out from the rest of the album, it has vocal segments I believe to be from old films, or at
least that's the intended tone, which play a little after the halfway point, and these are presented
with very light accompaniment from the instruments; the undoubtedly original vocals are limited to a
woman laughing like an instrument, which appears in the first half as the song progresses.  One gets
the impression that it's supposed to be like an unfortunate end, in a film with an unfortunate cast.
The last minute or so is the nicest stretch of the song, with a nice buildup somewhat similar to the
fifth track, although shorter until it becomes satisfying to hear.  It's an odd end to an odd album.

This album is rather similar to the album which preceded it, ``Undead'', and carries the mark of his
earlier albums.  The best story of his would have to be a much earlier work, ``Sentinel''; he's been
unable to best that album, in this respect, despite the appearance of trying.  Regardless, it's nice
to see an artist who started with fan music move on to these original works without skipping a beat.
I'll review ``Sentinel'' next, if I ever again review an album by this artist, barring anything new.
.