APOPTYGMA BERZERK ROCKET SCIENCE ALBUM GUN, SONYBMG RELEASE: JANUARY 23, 2009 REVIEW: JANUARY 28, 2009

Stephan Groth and his merry men in Apoptygma Berzerk caused quite a commotion with their last album "You and Me Against the World" when they seemingly turned their back on the pure electronic sound of old, transforming into a mainstream guitar driven pop band, with electronic parts. I was one of those who liked that album, since Stephan always manage to concoct wickedly catchy melodies.

"Rocket Science" continues in the same vein, with a mix of electronics and guitars, although actually with a heavier focus on the electronics this time. It's also not as heavily mainstream. Judging from the online reaction to this album though, people still feel a lot of anger and resentment for Stephan's change. Oh, the joys of inane internet anonymity. I think he should be commended for his willingness to try new stuff, and change the sound so completely. I can understand that some people won't like it anymore, but hey, there are other bands out there that you can listen to instead.

That said, at times you get the feeling that he's jumping on the electro/rock emo bandwagon. Somehow I suspect that Stephan really enjoys the music though, and is not in it for the money. He's always made pop songs, it's mostly the instrumentation that's changed.

Fourteen tracks are usually way too many for an album in my opinion, but true to APB history, some of these are shorter interludes which makes for a nice flow between tracks. I have some favourites, namely album opener "Weight of the World", "Asleep or Awake" and "Incompatible", all of which are airy, melody driven electropop-rock at its finest. I could do without nasty all out rock track "Pitch Black/Heat Death" though. The cover of Suede's "Trash" is nice too, but mostly sounds like a speeded-up version of the original.

I rate this album about the same as the last one, and I bet some singles from it can really become radio hits. But if they really want mainstream success, I think they should ditch the name. Apoptygma Berzerk is just too convoluted for the masses.

JOHAN CARLSSON