Delerium: Karma

Written by Mat Mckenzie

last updated 2009-07-17 19:56 CET

Intermix meets Deep Forest meets Enigma. This is Delerium, one of the many projects of Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber, also known from other synthesizer based groups such as Front Line Assembly and Synaesthesia.

Music critique

Artist: Delerium

Album: Karma

Playtime: 01:15:08
Record label: Nettwerk
Released: 1997

planet origo rating

Delerium - Karma

I don't think there is enough space in one article to cover the many projects of Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber, especially as the lineups of some of the bands have changed over the years. Suffice to say they are a multi talented bunch. Of all their projects, I'd probably cite Intermix as my favourite but they have produced some amazing tracks as Front Line Assembly and Synaesthesia too

If you listen to their music you can often hear the component parts of other projects woven into the sound. Karma is a case in point. I have a respectable collection of music by Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber. I'm not by any stretch a completist of their music but I have enough to understand where they're coming from. I read an article on them many years ago which suggested one focused on beats and rhythms, whilst the other on chords and melodies and listening to their music I can understand it as their music has definite structure to it. Either way it's a great working partnership resulting in a seemingly never ending torrent of ideas

I would imagine Delerium is one of their most successful incarnations, it's certainly one of the most commercial with several singles doing well in the charts. Most notable for me is Silence from this album. Boy do I know this track well! Rewinding back to 1997 when the album first came out I was lucky enough to be asked to be best man at a friends wedding. His wife decided she didn't want the traditional wedding music as she walked up the isle, but Silence instead. My friend, knowing that in addition to making music myself I dabbled with remixing now and again, thought it would be nice if I could do them a special mix of Silence for them. Dutifully I accepted the challenge and set about many evenings slaving over a hot PC mangling and obliterating Silence into something quite different. Finally the mix was done and luckily the results were something the couple both really liked so it was used at the wedding. If I could get the samples cleared I'd stick it on my website for all to hear but I digress

Silence is a good track and I wasn't the first to remix it, loads of versions already exisited before I got my hands on it and it did stick out as an obvious single to be taken from the album along with Euphoria. As for the rest of the tracks, I can quite easily summarise; Intermix meets Deep Forest meets Enigma.

The large majority of the tracks open with ethnic samples and electronic sound effects as per Deep Forest which are then indispursed with chords and vocal samples akin to Enigma. Underpinning most of the tracks are either slow or slightly faster paced basslines and rhythms straight out of the Intermix back catalogue, if you know their work. Icing on the cake are lush vocals from the various female guests on the album.

Exposing these similarities is not to say I don't like this album. There's in fact nothing to dislike, there are no harsh moments, no great change of pace to disrupt the flow and there are some brilliant melodies woven into the tracks. It's electronic too so I have no complaints there, synth mad as I am.

I don't know what it is though, maybe you just have to be in the mood but despite ticking all the boxes on paper I somehow wasn't moved by this album nearly as much as their work as Intermix or even Front Line Assembly. If I was reviewing it back in 1997 it may be a different story but where I am now I would much rather have the album minus the ethnic samples.

I certainly jumped on the Deep Forest bandwagon when they exploded onto the scene, buying pretty much everything they did but it was the stunning melodies and electronic sounds I liked, not their trademark sampling of ethnic voices. Groundbreaking as it was at the time (ignoring Jean Michel Jarre's Zoolook of course) I do find Deep Forests excessive sampling a bit much these days too.

It was a similar situation with Enigma's MCMXC A.D. album. The music world went mad for it and I was as taken as anybody. Mixing religious chants with a solid breakbeat was really different and spawned several impersonators but none did it as well as Enigma to my ears. The album sold in vast amounts and although it could be described as a concept album of sorts I think it stands the test of time with some killer melodies still shining through.

So, to the verdict on Karma then. Well if you like the first few tracks you are going to love it as the album has a similar feel throughout. As an added bonus, most copies of Karma that you'll find these days are the 2CD version so with even more music its great value too. Personally I enjoyed listening to the album but it didn't blow me away. When I hear Corollary off Phaze Two, Voices from Intermix and Gun or Mindphaser from FLA's Tactical Neural Implant however I am in truly in awe. Find the aspect of Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber projects you like best and investigate - thats my advice.