Wissenschaftslehre IV or Opinion Crisis is the latest ambient/drone synth-based album from Sharks' Teeth. It's not an album for everyone and you're either going to love it or be left wondering what on earth is going on.

This is going to sound a bit harsh, but the majority of the music here sounds like bad sample music for a synthesiser demo. It brought to mind the sort of music someone with no musical knowledge has bashed out in a lazy weekend on some sort of sampling software (possibly by pressing random buttons and messing about with the pitch tool).

Now, I'm sure that musically those behind Sharks' Teeth are trained classical instrument artists just branching out and challenging the accepted perimeters of the musical soundscape... or some such nonsense. To me, it just sounded like the work of a fine art student still trying to come to grips with their own identity.

There were moments on this album (parts of 'Jade Oscilloscope Screen' are listenable) where for a brief moment something truly beautiful is captured ('Beverly Chills' has flashes of genius), but the majority of tracks are painfully dull and uninspiring. It feels out of touch and out of time. If you're going through a period of self-hate... buy two copies and play them out of synch.

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Nick Smithson