It's always interesting to watch an artist grow and develop over time, going from a rocky "point A" to a more defined/refined "point B." Ideally the journey should lead to a sharply delineated and unique sound which conveys the personality of the individual artist while appealing to the listener in an intimate way. Tony Young has evolved over a period of five years into a crafty songwriter with amazing compositional skills. Beyond that the sounds he chooses to employ in his Autoclav1.1 project resonate in a way which comes across as genuinely heartfelt and real in a raw sense without being at all over-the-top. While the music can at times be moderately aggressive it never falls back on the easy trappings of most crunchy Industrial and for that he's earned the respect of hardcore noise fans as much as those into the more passive and restrained sounds utilized in his work.

If you could condense the haunted longing of Joy Division, add in the fluid drive of Leeds acts like Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and Gang Of Four and season it with the Pop craftsmanship and striking melody common in a lot of Orbital's best work you would manage to cook up something similar to what Autoclav1.1 has come to offer. Of course the key ingredient is Young's wicked sense of rhythm and euphony which serves to create something not merely palatable but unforgettable.

On his last album, 2008's Love No Longer Lives Here, Tony utilized the instrumental talents of ESA's Jamie Blacker on guitar and Cradle Of Filth's Dave Pybus on bass. This time around there are guest vocal appearances by Blacker, Experiment Haywire's Rachel Haywire and Riotmilloo's Emilie Verbieze. Blacker also contributes a little guitar texturing and there are some collaborative electronics by Prxs' Lorenzo Macinanti and Xotox's Andy Davids. The efforts of each of these individuals don't stand out from the overall music itself but rather beautifully enhance the sonic tapestries Young has craftily stitched together.

The cocksure swagger of "When We Woke Up" introduces the latest collection, titled Where Once Were Exit Wounds, and there's an innate sense of confidence in Young's approach that wasn't immediately evident on previous works. Utilizing a lot of tones which ring as organic instrumentation, including realistic drum sounds, there's a lot more punch that carries authenticity and heralds a new level of accessibility to Autoclav1.1's pastiche. Yet even though the instrumentation sounds live this is a well-calculated electronic record with an impressive amount of diversity that will be missed on initial spins due to the subtlety in implementation. Rolling forward with its insistent beat and gurgling, ephemeral noises for two and a half minutes the first track suddenly explodes with lush, synthetic strings which give way to the icy piano that has now become a signature sound for the act.

"Taking Blood" begins with an aggressive rhythm and charging bass that is complemented nicely by understated piano and atmospheric synth. The beat drops away for a spell and soon after begins a slow build up until the track explodes with high, reverberating notes and a grinding, guitar-like drone. It's one of the albums most compelling moments. The next song sees Blacker wailing a rhetorical question before a chugging riff accentuates some marvelously corrosive electronics. It's a four minute frenzy of rhythmic fury and metallic edge which serves as a nice counterpoint to the rest of the setlist.

The second half of the album might seem coldly antiseptic, almost sterile, in comparison to the first. The more you listen to it, however, the more you'll grow to appreciate the nuance involved in many of these numbers. "Tomorrow" starts out with gorgeous ringing and angelic plucking before launching into a haunting melody above a catchy rock rhythm. As it moves along the theme continually develops until melting away completely at the three and a half minute mark leaving the listener only a moment to catch his or her breath before it starts up again with every element of the tune making a strong reprise. "These Walls Have Seen All" is the most surprising track, sounding like something akin to Lifeforms-era Future Sound Of London. The jangling "An Idiosyncratic Oath" features sampled ethereal vocals and plenty of rhythmic layering for a brilliant compositional achievement that seems to swirl back around you like a dreamy dust storm.

Album closer "Summer" comes across as the sort of vibrant acoustic/electronic style exemplified on Goldfrapp's last release yet with a lot more depth and breadth even without the chanteuse vocalizations. Ultimately as the beat overtakes the track it seems more akin to Orbital's "One Perfect Sunrise," but for what sounds like a sampled guitar loop in place of any overt rejoicing.

This is music which embraces an epic simplicity utilized as a clever facade for what is actually complex auditory architecture. The balance struck between traditional sounds and synthetic enhancements can be comforting when you just want something fun and engaging on the stereo yet can also provide a source of cerebral enjoyment when you wish to pick everything apart in an analytical sense. It's difficult to imagine anyone disliking Young's music. On the one hand it's starting to seem as though he might be painting himself into a corner with an established, signature sound entirely his own. On the other hand, I can't wait until he proves that observation wrong. With Where Once Were Exit Wounds Autoclav1.1 truly solidifies its place in the upper echelon of contemporary electronic music.

See also: See also: Review: Love No Longer Lives Here

See also: Tony Young: The DTC Interview