The Vitals:

Label: Deeplife Records
Genre: Industrial, Electro
Number of Tracks: 9
How to Obtain: www.sheltershed.com, www.beatport.com

Factor Scores:

Production Quality: 5.0
Programming and Arrangement: 6.5
Entertainment Quality: 5.0
Total: 5.5 - Average

Oneel's Take:

When given the opportunity to review Sheltershed, I jumped on the chance. These guys are producers I have respected for quite some time, and I feel honored to be able to give an honest opinion of their music. Being a child of the Industrial/Hard House days, I've known of these guys for some time. I've enjoyed their previous works and expected this release to rock as hard as previous releases.

I have to admit, I was disappointed with this release. With a group like Sheltershed, I expect the envelope to be pushed each time they release an album, but this one just did not hit for me. To me, Sheltershed seems to be a group currently looking for an identity. Are they Industrial, or are they Electronic Dance? Their decision seems paramount to future success.
Eventually, groups hit that point where they have to decide what they want to be, and this is where Sheltershed currently resides. If they plan on being Industrial, then their current setup works just fine. It's a gritty, sequence-heavy romp through classic industrial sounds. Tracks like "Suffer Trophy" give evidence to this. The grinding top lines and growling bass remind me of Apoptygma Berzerk and FSOL. If Sheltershed wants to be Industrial, then I believe they've hit something.

For me, the problem comes in listening to this from an Electronic Dance standpoint, which seems to be the stance at which this album is sold. There seems to be a bit of confusion. Are they trying to be West Coast Breaks (a la Crystal Method), Big Beat (a la Midfield General), Electro Breaks (a la Jackyl & Hyde), or Hard House (a la Paul Glazby)? Any way around it, their sound needs to be updated if they're planning on being Electronic Dance. Everything sounds small and underproduced. It honestly sounds as if presets were used extensively. While the programming and arrangement are rock solid, I think an extensive sound update is needed.

Best track on this album? Hands down, it's the "Drop The Transmission" remix of "Pivot Point". I would definitely play this in some of my grittier, more techno-driven moments. It's an excellent slice of West Coast/Chemical breaks reminiscent of Crystal Method/Cirrus/Josh Wink. This track is gold, and I highly recommend it to anyone.

As for the album as a whole, I really think Sheltershed would have something if they took it back into the studio and did some tweaking. I feel they really have something, but it just has an unfinished feel. Sheltershed fans will probably enjoy this, but I have a hard time giving it a solid recommendation from an outside A&R perspective. I can't wait to hear Sheltershed's next effort, because I love these guys. However, this effort just doesn't stand out to me.