Album Review: Pendulum, Immersion

Release date:24 May 2010

Skiddle rating: 3/5

Reviewed by: James Massoud

After the success Pendulum found with their hit second album In Silico in 2008, it was always going to be difficult to make a follow up that was as good. Immersion is a good album, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn't live up to their previous efforts.  

This may sound blunt but unfortunately it’s true. Immersion starts off with the cinematic introduction of ‘Genesis’, which makes the album seem like it’s going to be something epic; the mix into ‘Salt in the Wounds’ gives the start of the album some promise. This song is followed by the band’s single ‘Watercolour’, which is probably the strongest track on the album - never a good sign. After this, the album does begin to weaken, with only other stand-out track - the bass-heavy ‘The Island – Pt II (Dusk). 

There are some decent collaborations to note: The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett, Swedish metal kings In Flames and psychedelic/alternative rock band Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson all feature on ‘Immunize’, ‘Self Vs Self’, and ‘The Fountain’ respectively. While the songs are not bad, it does prove that Pendulum like to experiment with their music and offer the listeners some diversity. ‘The Fountain’ is the better of the three collaborative songs because Porcupine Tree are an experimental band themselves, so combined with Pendulum the result brings some progressive arrangements and creates some ambience. The fusion with In Flames is interesting but nowhere near as groundbreaking as, say, Public Enemy’s cross-genre work with Anthrax on ‘Bring the Noise’. 

Having seen previous albums go platinum, selling over one million records and a sold out tour, and performing at festivals such as Glastonbury, Download, V and Global Gathering, Pendulum have moulded a strong and loyal fanbase for themselves. On the note of festivals, Immersion does end well with the head-nodding, summer-music-festival-memory-evoking sounds of ‘Encoder.’ Although eagerly-awaited for some time Immersion is a slightly better than average album. Not Pendulum’s best but that won’t worry their fans. It’ll only give them more to look forward to in the next album. After all, there will be less pressure on the band by then.  

Catch Pendulum supporting Tiesto at Victoria Park on 30th July. Tickets are now available through Skiddle. 

Get more information on Pendulum here.