Darker is the debut studio album of C-Tec, released on 1 September 1997 by Synthetic Symphony.[1][2] The album showcases the band wanting to experiment by integrating different styles and textures into their compositions after the release of their 1995 EP Cyber-Tec.[3] On 5 October 2018 the album was reissued as a music download with an additional track titled "My Unbreakable Code" and written by Marc Heal.
| Darker | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by C-Tec | ||||
| Released | 1 September 1997 (1997-09-01) | |||
| Genre | EBM | |||
| Length | 48:38 | |||
| Label | Synthetic Symphony | |||
| Producer | Marc Heal | |||
| C-Tec chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
digital issue cover | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Pitchfork Media | (8.2/10)[5] |
Greg Prato of AllMusic said "the aptly titled Darker is industrial-influenced, aggressive electronic dance music with all of the necessary ingredients for success -- the vocals are sung with the mandatory pissed-off foreign accent, and the music drills into your brain with ease."[4] Pitchfork Media described the music as having "high-energy, egomaniacal attitudes" and claimed "as any good darkwave album would, it also takes a plunge into the lonelier side of despair and isolation."[5] In May 1998 the album peaked at numbers eight and sixty-one on CMJ New Music Monthly's top dance releases and top radio airplay.[6][7]
All lyrics are written by Jean-Luc de Meyer, except "Epitaph" written by Dorothy Parker.
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Random" |
| 4:56 |
| 2. | "Flowing" |
| 8:40 |
| 3. | "Foetal" |
| 5:47 |
| 4. | "Silent Voices" |
| 3:40 |
| 5. | "Being Nothing" |
| 5:08 |
| 6. | "The Lost" |
| 4:59 |
| 7. | "Stateless" |
| 5:09 |
| 8. | "Shift IV" |
| 3:56 |
| 9. | "Epitaph" |
| 6:23 |
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10. | "My Unbreakable Code" | Heal | 4:00 |
| Year | Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | CMJ New Music Monthly | United States | "Top 25 Dance" | 8 | [6] |
| "CMJ Radio Airplay: Top 75" | 61 | [7] | |||
| "*" denotes an unordered list. | |||||
Adapted from the Darker liner notes.[8]
C-Tec
'Additional performers
Production and design
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | 1997 | Synthetic Symphony | CD | CD 085-61572 SPV |
| United States | Wax Trax!/TVT | TVT 7252 | ||
| 1998 | CS | |||
| Poland | 2004 | Союз/Synthetic Symphony | CS | 085-61572 SPV |
| United Kingdom | 2018 | Armalyte Industries | DL |
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)| Authority control |
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