Icons for a New Religion is the new album of the electronica sound wizards Alec Bowman and Kingsley Ravenscroft and this one reminds more strongly of the work of Future Sound of London compared to their previous materials. The ritual touch in the music also invokes comparisons with Coil as is most obvious in a composition such as ‘In The Kingdom of the Electronic Eye’ or ‘The Dead Underground’, while the intricate rhythm structures remind more of the work of Autechre and the ambient spheres of recordings of the well known ambient labels like Apollo or R&S in the 90’s. I had to think of the Isolationism cd compiled by David Toop, and released halfway the 90’s too, while listening to the alienating yet cinematographic music of Formication. Trippy sounds, buried voices, squelched beats, reverb and all sorts of deep drones and otherworldy sounds in compositions like ‘Arise or Originate’ or ‘Nest 4 (A New City)’ create a slightly alienating and threatening atmosphere. Caleidoscopic and dark is perhaps the most accurate description. With that you can’t deny mentioning Future Sound of London during the times of Lifeforms or Dead Cities. Icons for a New Religion is a worthy full length CD release, while previous materials were released on CDR. Professionally made though, such as the wonderful releases Redux and The Untitled Wasdale Recordings. Yet this new recording seems to be the most complete Formication release so far. Recommended to the adventurous lover of electronic music.