Hello there good people, you may actually need a sanity check after this one! This week Ryan and I dive into the bramble-filled rabbit hole that is Insanity Check’s debut album, Unrecoverable Reality. We once again get lost in unfamiliar territory within a dark beat-driven, industrial synth electronic, metal-tinged soundtrack-like concoction. The intense music brought up memories of many–and I truly mean many–video games of our past. We drift everywhere within the pixel-based universe, and of course, add in our own distorted thoughts. To name a few games… Luigi’s Mansion, Time Splitters 2, Duke Nukem Twisted Metal, the list goes on.

Despite a lack of terminology to describe the electronic elements within this release, Ryan and I try our best as we ride the vapor waves through each distinct track. Each song unpackages a rich layered landscape for the mind to explore, like the carnival nightmare synth or the hard-hitting metallic beats that drag you into a jagged junkyard. While you’re nursing your rusty tetanus-filled wounds, be prepared to dance your way to a cyber beat. Then you find yourself smashing buttons within a ghoul-filled arcade as chiptune fragments dart in. With each listen I found myself intrigued by a new noise, melody, or beat.

Insanity Check was conjured up by the Finnish DJ Topias Svärd. He is also known as “DJ Backstabber” and “8-Bitape”(a chiphop project within the Scandanavian chiptune underground). Unrecoverable Reality took five years to produce and captures a dark time in Topias’ life has he struggled with mental health issues. He also notes that it could act as an alternative mix to a Command and Conquer Red Alert soundtrack, so maybe Ryan and I aren’t too far off with the video game chatter. Now gear up, deploy some pylons for the Zerg rush, and listen to our nerd ramblings.