When I first listened to this album, it was taking me more than an hour to realize that I had the TV on as well. Not sure if this is a good sign, in fact I?m pretty sure it isn?t. Bearly Queen?s electronic drones certainly need room, and volume, to breathe. If you don?t turn up your stereo, ?The Infamous Commercial Suicide Album? is likely to disappear into the ether.

Second go, then. This time the setting is another archetypal listening situation: via headphones on the way to work. With added texture and granularity the floating drones of the opener ?Lost in the Snow? are gaining momentum. Bearly Queen?s manipulation of samples becomes more apparent but still fails to be engaging. Somehow, this music manages to be both soothing and uncanny ? not a small achievement, but I still feel tension is missing from the four compositions. Which isn?t great, as the album clocks in at a hearty 68 minutes.

Third and last setting: amplified iMac, volume cranked up for maximum impact. It doesn?t come as a surprise that the sounds are now leaning towards the sublime. The lack of tension turns out to be not one of development: ?Lost in the Snow? is arranged almost symmetrically, with the sound swelling for the first eight minutes and ebbing away for the second half of the track. Well. For all its transcendental grandeur (which strikes me as a bit forced), Bearly Queen?s tracks lack cinematic quality. With the exception of the sombre moods of ?Largo?, I would be hard pressed to offer any visual connotations. In the final track, ?Metal Music Machine (parts I, II & III)?, straight beats come out of the blue, sounding almost like minimal techno, Kompakt-style. That doesn?t last long, though, and soon gives way to ambient simmering. Again, and even under ideal listening conditions, the track strikes me as somewhat contrived and much too long.

Released by Luovaja and limited to 50, ?The infamous Commercial Suicide Album? is still available at the time of writing. The cover photograph, by the way, is as beautiful as it gets. 5/10 -- Jan-Arne Sohns (15 July, 2008)