The Deep Red Connection

Every once in awhile, an act comes along and manages to do what many thought impossible--it successfully crosses several of electronic music's many subgenres. Mephisto Odyssey is one of those. The San Francisco electronic music collective sprung from Mephisto mastermind Mikael Johnston's guitar-rock frustration. "I prayed for an answer as to what to do with myself with the threat that I was going to quit music if I didn't get an answer," Johnston says of the inspiration for Mephisto. "That night I had a dream and a voice told me to 'buy a computer.'" Thanks to this bit of divine intervention, Johnston bought a computer and learned about MIDI, and then Mephisto Odyssey was born. A newcomer to the world of electronic music, Johnston was free from the constraints of outdated modes of thinking--namely, that one must pick a style and religiously stick to it. The Deep Red Connection, Mephisto's debut release, jumps from gangsta rap to sultry house to ethereal techno (thanks to otherworldly former Gus Gus vocalist, Hafdis Huld) without missing a beat. And that's not all. Johnston answers to the beat-driven rock that's so popular among kids these days with "Crash," an aggressive number featuring Static-X vocalists Wayne Static and Koichi Fukuda. So, while Mephisto Odyssey has--to borrow a hackneyed phrase--something for everyone, it's not at the expense of the attention of the solitary listener. Deep Red is a defiantly wonderful must-have for all devotees of electronic music.