While Martin Gore vocally played the angel to Dave Gahan’s devil in Depeche Mode, here he’s ditching personae altogether in favour of cold electronic instrumentalism, as if soundtracking all your favourite sci-fi films that haven’t been made yet.
It’s angular like early Gary Numan one minute (in Trysting and Stealth), then spectacular and astral the next (Europa Hymn and Exalt), while Crowly and Brink both envy raves from the stratosphere. When an album’s dots connect on shuffle as well as they do in order, the mission is well and truly accomplished.
