Nero: Welcome Reality – review

If Joe Ray and Dan Stephens aren't fans of Blade Runner , or, more specifically, its magnificent Vangelis soundtrack, it would be a puzzlement. The influence of that work in all its shimmering, proggy grandeur is written all over the duo's debut album as Nero, which attempts to create soundscapes as vast and crepuscular as dystopian futuristic cities. Amid the barrage of musical styles – dubstep, trance, electro, bass-wracked disco on "Crush On You" – there are a few soaring moments: it's hard to resist the titanic bombast of "Doomsday". What brings it down is a crashing lack of subtlety and a weakness for the overblown.