Awesome Music / Pendulum (Band)

aka: Pendulum

What do you get when you put together several Awesome Aussies and make them play a mixture of drum and bass, electronic rock and alternative metal? You get the bone-breaking awesomeness that is known as Pendulum.

Hold Your Colour

Hold Your Colour was the album that changed forever the landscape of drum and bass.

• The Title Track, "Hold Your Colour", has a soothing tune and hard drums and bass, accompanied by Rob Swire's quiet croon. The Bipolar remix is no slouch, either. And the live version. By god.
• "Streamline manages to be very calming, yet energetic at the same time.
• "Still Grey", the relaxing, yet nervewracking ending track.
• "Slam". The first 45 seconds sounds like something you'd hear a boxer enter the ring to.
• "Plasticworld". Imagine Pendulum mixing their traditional DnB with jazz, of all things.

In Silico

In Silico perfectly blends drum and bass with electronic rock and alternative metal.

• "Showdown", an irate Take That! to the "fans" who claimed the band sold themselves out.
• "Different" manipulates the Amen break in the best way possible.
• "Propane Nightmares" is by far Pendulum's biggest claim to fame for a reason. It manages to be incredibly catchy, yet sound relentless at the same time. The remix by Celldweller manages to be just as epic.
• "Midnight Runner". A soft first 2:36 minutes, then suddenly the song slams into fast-paced, DNB frenzy. It'll make you want to go outside on the street at night and fight some bad guys.
• "The Other Side", a fast-paced, vocoder-heavy song about Mind Control and Demonic Possession that is just so damn catchy.
• "Mutiny" is by far Pendulum's most unusual song, eschewing drum and bass for slower, but still extremely aggressive hard rock. The tempo change at the end will catch you off guard in the best way possible.
• "The Tempest", the album closer to In Silico, progresses from a soft bass guitar driven intro to four minutes of hard rock. Then the song tops it off with two minutes of intense Drum and Bass.

Immersion

Immersion might as well just become the new gold standard album of drum and bass.

• "Crush" is both adrenaline-inducing and tear-jerking. The remixed version by Devin Townsend just cranks the awesome factor and turns it into an urgent, driving rock/metal song without compromising any of the catchiness.
• "Set Me on Fire" manages to be relentlessly crushing and melodic at the same time.
• "Under The Waves" features Rob Swire's softest, most melodious vocal delivery to date.
• Even those who aren't fans of Pendulum admit that "The Island" is awesome, and one of their few songs that everyone knows.
• "The Vulture". Listening to this while doing anything will get you pumped.
• "Witchcraft" starts off quiet, with Swire crooning about a deceased lover, before suddenly erupting into drum and bass/alt-metal goodness.
• "Immunize", featuring Liam Howlett, is the heaviest, most aggressive song Pendulum have made in their career. It does not catch a break at all, and it's absolutely glorious.
• There is also "Self vs Self", a drum and bass/Melodic Death Metal song made in collaboration with In Flames. The duet between Swire and Andres Friden only makes this song even more awesome.
• "The Fountain" featuring Steven Wilson is nothing short of beautiful.
• "Watercolour" is one hell of a track which is guaranteed to get your blood pumping.

Elemental EP and Remixes

• "Driver" starts the EP while hitting you like a dump truck, showing that the band hasn't lost their touch after the hiatus. ABSOLUTE's Neon Energy remix also adds in some vibes in a similar vein to The Prodigy.
• "Nothing For Free" is darker and slower-paced and, while tearjerking, remains as a surprising Mood Whiplash after the bombastic opening track. Not intense enough? Kove's remix has got you covered and try not to feel like a badass while listening to it.
• Collaborating with Hybrid Minds like clockwork, the Lighter and Softer "Louder Than Words" will assure you to send goosebumps upon hearing it. The remixed version by Luttrell cranks it up to a whole new level while being more uplifting than the original.
• The closing track, "Come Alive", is a nice blend of Heavy Metal and Dance. KDA's remix, while having strong emphasis on the latter, is just as good.

Live at Brixton Academy

• While "Different" already sounds awesome, somehow it manages to sound just as good, if not better, live, particularly the more audible bass.
• "Midnight Runner" sounds mostly the same as the studio version in the first half. The second half? Added electric guitar and heavy synth make for a mind-annihilating second half.

Other

• Rob Swire's awesome voice deserves its own bullet point. Extra points for sounding just as good live as he does in the studio.
• "Ransom", which was originally going to be in Immersion, yet it was deemed "boring after the intro". By the band itself.
• In October of 2023, Pendulum covered "Anti-Hero" by Taylor Swift for triple j's Like A Version, transforming it from an introspective pop song to a fast-paced metal song that gives the lyrics even more of a punch.