Allegory & Metaphor 2.0

Sean Deason takes Detroit techno into extreme down-tempo territory where emotive subtleties lurk within the tranquil mist of this synth-heavy album. The Detroit artist seems more interested in the bedroom than the dancefloor on Allegory & Metaphor; while there are plenty of funky beats on songs such as "Ambience" and "Hiphoptrak," these rhythms are dramatically eclipsed by the thick layers of serene synth tones that hover throughout the entirety of this record like the mammoth darkness of a bedroom's four corners blanketing the faint light of a flickering candle. For an idea of Deason's gifted ability to transform synth tones into heartfelt poetry, think back to the atmospheric tones of Derrick May's "Icon" or Plastikman's Consumed album. The modulating strings of Allegory & Metaphor aren't used as background decoration but rather as the most prominent sound on the album. For example, the album's centerpiece, "Zig," carries on for over ten minutes as a synth riff wiggles and worms in a zigzagging manner with heavy layers of phasing until a slow fade into silence. The title track and its album-concluding reprise stand as the album's other noteworthy moments where music surpasses its status as art and enters the domain of sheer beauty. Following the epic nature of "Zig," some may be caught off guard by Deason's lone drum'n'bass track, "Psybadek One," yet for as out of place as one might assume drum'n'bass might sound on a ambient techno album, it surprisingly fits in rather well with the continuity of the album; the song's dense sheets of synth tones and subdued percussion make this possible. In the end, Deason's synth-heavy, bassline-light album challenges Richie Hawtin's synth-light, bassline-heavy Consumed album as the best ambient techno album to come from Detroit's long tradition of exceptional techno releases.