The Toxic Avenger is back, this time with an imaginary OST to the award-winning Sci-Fi comic Carbone & Silicium / Shangri-La by Mathieu Bablet. Toxic Avenger’s meditative and highly cinematic 87.6% is part of the Carbone Toxique EP, released via Enchanté Records, and, according to the artist, is an in-depth exploration of Mathieu Bablet’s fictional world.
As befits OSTs, 87.6% follows a non-linear structure, with sections one wouldn’t expect to hear in mainstream Electronic music. It can be conventionally divided into 5 parts, with a couple of more, serving as bridges between the main sections. The first of those is an analog sounding bass-synth intro, with very warm low-mid frequencies. An appropriate way to open the gates into the world of the Carbone & Silicium OST, it sounds epic on its own, without any additional spatial effects.
On the bridge-section, which gets us deeper into The Toxic Avenger’s fictional world, the massive synths enter, that sound somewhere in-between classic 80s brass-synths and vintage keys from the same era. The French musician is known for his love of this Synthwave sound, Черное Лето and the entire Shifted EP, with Sorcery being the highlight, are examples of this.
Once The Toxic Avenger introduces the drums of 87.6%, the bass from the intro suddenly “speeds-up”, entering into a synergetic fusion with the drums. This part, if Carbone & Silicium was a motion picture, would be a great way to accompany a long-lasting aerial pan shot over the main locations of the film. Closer to its end, The Toxic Avenger brings in more synth melodies and eventually completely removes the drums, allowing the melodic element to dominate the next part. From here, everything goes upwards and in a unifying, progressive logic.
One of the more unexpected parts is on the outro, where The Toxic Avenger hides a beautiful solo on cello. Although it happens after the culminating part, it feels like without this surprise, the latter would lose a lot of its impact. 87.6% is a rewarding experience for all the patient listeners and for those who appreciate gracefully executed concept-tracks. It sounds self-sufficient as a single, but there’s certainly more surprising cinematic moments from The Toxic Avenger’s Carbone Toxique EP.
