Written by: The Administrator
On January 1st, 2025, whilst writing a premiere for Am I in Trouble's excellent debut album Spectrum--after previously premiering two singles and reviewing a third, no less--I knew in my heart of hearts that I was not done writing about Am I in Trouble's excellent debut album Spectrum. After all, it still qualifies (spoilers!) for and merits an appearance on my (forthcoming) Favorite Album Art of 2025 and Favorite Albums of 2025 list, neither of which have been published for a variety of very real reasons. But, despite assuming that my past and future wordsmithery regarding Am I In Trouble's excellent debut album Spectrum was thoroughly mapped, I was wrong, for another Spectrum was made. In a manner of speaking. Enter Facets, a remarkably cohesive 15 track remix and/or re-imagining that presents "the seven songs of Spectrum explored, stretched, condensed, lightened, darkened, ripped apart, and stitched back together." Facets notably features a massive roster and an updated color palette for modern times. It serves, as it must, as a celebration of the original album's successes. A victory lap of sorts. But it also represents a broader sense of collaboration germinated both by the lesser-known annals of avantgarde metal and the fertile soils of the Ampwall community. Am I in Trouble's solo visionary Steve Wiener has used this project as a platform to "come together to find different shades and hues within the spectrum." Very cool idea; very cool execution. By overtly embracing remix culture, Facets demonstrates an exploratory drive, a creative mindset, and an openness to community that far more metal bands, in my humble opinion, should actively strive towards. I'm very pleased to present here today, in its lengthy entirety, Am I in Trouble's Facets several days before official release. Look for it on June 5th from SHIFT+CTRL Music. In the meantime, check it out below! I'll be waiting with ample wordcount, as always, on the other side.
How best, I have asked myself many times whilst preparing this premiere, to write about a 15 track album representing the reimagining of as many artists? The inevitable conclusion was: write about it all, obviously. At extreme risk of penning a review that takes longer to read than the album's mighty 1hr 25min runtime, I shall limit myself to one (1) sentence per track. Let's get into it, shall we?
Things start off on a lovely and tranquil note with the Ed Herbers helmed "Seafoam," which feels to me like the smooth sea-worn seaglass a beachcomber might find decades after the bright shard of "Green" was cast into the surf. This sense of calm is swiftly interrupted by the chiptun'd (and intensely sick) "Cobalt," which ramps up the speed and aggression to the exact levels of chaotic freneticism you almost certainly expect from Gonemage. Negative Agent keeps the genre whiplash rolling with a chanting and industrialized version of "Red," injecting the track with an extra dose of misanthropic violence and vitriol that the title "Scarlet" simply can't avoid implying. Next up, Imrryr (who previously impressed on Gray EP's "Obsidian") presents "Pearl," which leans into the airy angelic grandness of "White" without becoming untethered from the blackened aspects of the original. The following feel-good bop embodied by Adventsong's "Xanthous" continues embellishing the lighter side of AIiT?, taking cues from the intrinsic radiance of "Yellow" while amping up the percussion and apricus sun-drenched energy. Onward! "Rouge," an AIiT? solo effort, brings a blushing bombast to the proceedings, acting as a impassioned companion piece to the original material and a smart switch into more aggressive territory. And, speaking of aggression, Voidscan's dynamic and hostile "Onyx" is up next, utilizing Alex Loach's acidic blackened tone to great effect and very possibly clearing the high bar set by Gray EP's "Opal." Exit Chamber slows things down with the mighty droning atmosphere of "Crimson"--not the direction I was originally anticipating for a "Red" reimaging, but this track serves a notably monolithic role in the tracklist. Next up is Sylfvr's more vivacious "Viridian," which provides a little whimsy via some exceptionally charming fantasy synth. MEGAFAUNA's genre-mashing electro-frenzy cyber-infused "Fuchsia," much like the original "Pink," seems to find substantial joy in walking the delicate line between the cheerfulness and the abject horror represented by its subject matter. Moving along, "Snow," Chipped Topaz's take on "White," builds drum-forward growling menace around that delightful pure-driven melody before fading into bliss. Jude Kerr's "Canary" turns up the brightness and birdsong and sense of frolic present in "Yellow," nearly quadrupling the runtime without ever dragging the whimsy beyond a breaking point. The end approaches! In a true feat of well-executed excess, Witchtá´‰de's "Fuchsia" somehow exemplifies every element of the original, delivering both clapping production and winding guitars alongside a significant cast of vocal stylings. The penultimate track "Fern" maintains the circus-like jubilance of "Green," but builds the ditty into a bit of a lush rocker--I was previously unfamiliar with Raccoon Fink, but will be checking 'em out post-haste on the basis of this exellent track. Finally, the closer "Yellow + Blue = Green," an appropriately entitled amalgamation brought to life by Petridisch, is a dreamy and otherworldly long-form 10+ minute affair that reflects the lushness of its inspiration's component parts--a fitting outro to a project that respects source material without ever being afraid to strip it down and stretch it out. Facets is truly is a curatorial masterclass. As should be apparent, this project is exceedingly diverse from a musical perspective, representing a wide range of sounds and aesthetics that somehow always compliment and never clash with the the original vision. On paper the deliberately eclectic genre conglomerate shouldn't work, or at the very least shouldn't mesh. But it does, and the resulting listening experience is quite the aesthetic journey. Listening to multiple iterations and reinventions of each track allows the Spectrum audience to recontextualize their relationship with the familiar while simultaneously exploring new artists and genres. Beyond what the album sounds like, however, Facets also represents a creative ethos that I have a profound admiration for. Steve has found a way to extend his album's lifespan without the re-imagining ever feeling like a marketing gimmick or a promo hack. It is a project, not a product. The longevity never feels forced. The collaboration at the heart of Facets allows the album to fulfill its own purpose, independent of the typical "practical" reasons that one might release a remix album. And yet! Here I am, many, many months after the initial release of Spectrum, experiencing Am I in Trouble? with a vested and perhaps even revitalized interest. Ignoring the pull of the promo pit for days and weeks. Writing about "Red" (or variations thereof) with the same enthusiasm as I was literally 653 days ago. That alone is worth applause! Am I in Trouble? - Facets will be released June 5th, 2026 via SHIFT+CTRL Music
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