Escape from Heaven is the fruit of a lengthy period of hard work, the music has been composed in 2000-2005. The musick could be described as 'industrial', mostly because it pays homage to the early Industrial groups such as Throbbing Gristle, Coil or Psychic TV by being a wide-ranged beast of experimentation as well as fusion of diverse styles.

Niko Skorpio's wide-ranged musical background shines through in Escape from Heaven; from the deep dark ambient soundscapes of his previous The Hidden Nameless album, down to the cult bands Thergothon and This Empty Flow that Niko formed in the 90's. Despite the rather diverse contents, Escape from Heaven is musically a solid package. Escape from Heaven also carries a loose storyline that can be interpreted in occult, mythological, social and personal levels. Basically the album is a Manifesto of personal Liberation and a declaration of war against all forces of boredom and stagnation.

Reviews

(Suomenkieliset arvostelut)

"Experimenting with music, sounds and different magickal structures, Niko Skorpio emerges from cold crypts of northern Finland, with an album which took him so long periods of time due to hard work and dedication to create abstract sounds and transgressive atmospheres. The whole album was composed between 2000-2005.
The opening track is Dawn The Gathering Of Vultures built by dense atmospheres encrypted under a massive use of somber and dark sounds, bringing new realities to this world through ethereal expressions. Coming next is Fall From Fame through repetitive vociferations penetrating the whole structure of the track, which is an industrial machine full of power and twisted sounds.
Escape From Heaven is not the exeption; here Niko has included aggressive guitar chords which remind me the American metal band slayer, but this time incorporating effects and vocals which fit perfectly through the composition in general. The dynamism and creative potential developed by Niko Skorpio is unlimited, and this is reflected through Downfall Of The Absolutes and its enigmatic drone industrial elementals twisting all the time to create dark complex structures, revealing just a part of the potential developed here. Fifth composition representing by the symbol of infinite, the intermediality between musical and visual side of Escape From Heaven mirroring own personal visions focusing Babalon as primal connector between us and the feminine current latent in each one of us.
No Longer Still is a representation of eclectic nature of Niko Skorpio, this time adapting vocals in an insane way, as poetic expressions and as background some minimalism elements, effects. So, a short track, but effective in its own essence. Shugal one the best tracks here. Its music is penetrating and abrasive, as walking in black, humid corridors searching for something which is invisible, but you must visualize entering yourself. Lyrically it’s very interesting, a magickal trip to the desert of our mind, entering to such regions still to discover. As Niko says ”…the night side of Eden” with its qliphotic energies surrounding the whole picture of the track. An opus to god Seth, waiting you in the desert of your own perceptions. A dense track with percussive elements and vocals, piano is complementing perfectly the album.
The 8th track is Dudael this composition is divided into 3 parts. 1-“opus Desolation”, 2-“A Chasm In The Desert”, 3-The Psychogeometry Of Dispersion. And we find enough arguments and lyrical elements to consider this as another highlights from this album. Music mutating all the time and converging itself through ritualistic sounds, and percussive elements, with an eastern atmosphere inspired to the kali-ma kult. Another facet explored here. Worth to mention, chorus, atmospheres all gathered into a solid structure. Closing this release is Towards Distant 93 an ambient composition with drone elements and heavy atmospheres, so transgressive, strong and dense, with so dark parallel sounds well handled, generating an eerie music and lethal expressive compositions’ comes in a 8 pages booklet including images and lyrics of mostly tracks. Really, I am so very surprising by the creativity and eclectic nature revealed by Niko."
(Pan.O.Ra.Ma Journal)

"Niko Skorpio is yet another name in the Post-industrial underground that I have not yet heard. Upon receiving this release in the package from Blood Eagle, it was the only one to really catch my eye. The artwork, especially the photograph on the back of the CD booklet, is absolutely amazing. At the same time, that imagery that I was experiencing fooled me. After seeing the artwork, I was anticipating an album full of unique beauty. Probably something neo-classical. Instead, what I have is an early-industrial sounding album that can be compared to the likes of Coil, Throbbing Gristle, and Psychic TV. The entire album is chalk full of precise experimentation and the combination of unique styles of music. You can find a mixture of everything from extreme industrial to trip hop to dark ambient to lo-fi techno.
The opening track would lead one to believe that this album would be similar to a lot coming out of the Cold Meat Industry catalogue, but this is not true. After its over you get to experience some heavy, straight-forward industrial similar to a slower and more experimental KMFDM. Perhaps Leaether Strip would also be a good comparison. Keep in mind as well that this music has been a long time coming. All of it was composed in the 5 year period between 2000 and 2005, thus it is highly complex and very well written. While there is a bit of upbeat industrial to fuel your hatred, there is also an incredible amount of desolate dark ambient gaps and tortured voices coming through the white noise. This album is almost ritualistic in its' nightmarish nature. Niko is obviously one of the more successful musicians in the industrial scene at creating this foreboding atmosphere. While anyone can create noise, he has a way of making it simply build to a point of anxiety. This is enough to give one a panic attack similar to the one I received listening to Axis of Perdition at 3:30 in the morning in the basement with no lights on. After playing Silent Hill for the night. I swear I didn't cry. I must say I was thankful when the constant build of noise in Downfall of the Absolutes was over. It's just one of those songs that makes you constantly feel like there's something behind you no matter which way you turn.
O (although that's not the true name of the song. I'm not sure what the symbol is, but it has a sideways figure-8 inside the O) is another ritualistic track, comprised of almost monk-like vocals. The song is extremely laid back, and will help to bring you down after the feeling of anxiety that Downfall laid upon you. I must admit that the creepiest track on this album is No Longer Still. With very bleak musical aspects and childish and metallic vocals, it makes for a very frightening atmosphere. Listening to this album is almost like taking a walk through insanity itself. I can only assume that this would be what it would be like to live inside the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic. Slowly rocking yourself back and forth and singing along with the demented voices in your mind. All in all this album was very enjoyable. A welcome change to my usual rotation of metal and straight dark ambient. One thing I am sure of: Niko Skorpio is beyond talented, and only someone with an extremely demented mindset could come up with music this foreboding and mentally destructive." (Heathen Harvest)

"From the very title, the album aims to represent an epic supernatural tale of search and struggle, where the escape from Heaven is more likely the metaphor of a rebellion against institutionalized religion and its dogmas, to embrace the true freedom of the soul. Niko Skorpio's references must be clearly located into Thelema, since we read "Love is the Law, love under Will" in the notes, and a track like Towards Distant 93 gives further indications. The music of this magick poem is an interesting combination of dark ambient, noise soundscapes and even some hi-tech metal tunes, like the powerful title-track or the odd backwards, almost NIN-sounding song that bears the infinity symbol as title.
Undoubtedly, the subtler, mysterious electronic sceneries are more effective and appropriate to the album's topics, suggesting to the listener's imagination the astonishing images described by Niko's lyrics, like in Dudael, parts 1-3, an exotic and ritual suite articulated in three moments, and the aforementioned Towards Distant 93, which is the final, epic and magnificent track. Similarities could be found in Coph Nia, also on the thematic plan, even if Niko Skorpio's music has nothing of Adenon Satorial's bombastic and gothic tones, preferring to concentrate on alien and enigmatic atmospheres. Escape From Heaven is an interesting proof of this particular Finnish artist's abilities, and definitely worth a listening." (Filth Forge)

"Niko Scorpio has been active into different bands since early ‘90s. With each band he explored different musical paths and if with Thergothon he played dark metal, with This Empty Flow he explored the new wave and goth dark corners. Also as Niko Skorpio he already released different albums since the end of the ‘90s and this ESCAPE FROM HEAVEN is his eleventh release. Into his press sheet he named as his main influences Psychic Tv, Throbbing Gristle and Coil. Musically Niko doesn’t make evident these influences (maybe Coil are the main one) by presenting a sound already known or musical solutions listened thousand of times. For sure the main things he shares with Coil is his interest into thelemitic arguments and about the research of human spiritual freedom. In my opinion this could represent the ESCAPE FROM HEAVEN, the rejection of the squared way of living and if the Catholic church pave its streets with gold, escaping from heaven could make the man opening his eyes without being blinded by such shining streets. Listening to Niko Skorpio’s album the first thing that pop up is his will of refusing the boundaries of a precise genre. If main the track is paying its tribute to metal (and this is the only one), on the other ones you can find traces of mid oriental traditions (see the trumpets of the second part of “Dudael” called “A chasm in the desert”) or tribal approach to rhythms. The nine tracks of the CD are permeated with will of experiment with emotions and music and most of them sound like an obscure soundtrack where melody surface time to time. It took five years to Niko to record this album and now you have the opportunity to check his inner feelings as on this CD he stripped his emotions like his body as you can see on its cover." (Chain DLK)

"Until now it has seemed that Niko Skorpio, well known as a multi-talented musician, has devoted each facet of his musical drive to its own project. This is clearly no longer the case. Escape from Heaven is most certainly not a singular whole, even though its sound production (and just the sound production) does give it that feel in a way. The sound profile is very similar to the one seen on the albums of Ulf Söderberg / Sephiroth – meaning that it’s quite cold but highly effective. All shades and tones on this record play excellently well. Its ambient segments are also much alike to that aforementioned comparison point, yet differ in that they never burst out into full rhythm. As far as musical styles go, the album’s contents range from metal (the title track) to slow darkwave with unclear vocals and the already mentioned ambient. At times it’s highly annoying (especially “Fall of Fame” irritated me very much), at other times it’s incredibly fine (“O”). Every move, even the most annoying one, nevertheless seems so carefully planned that they leave an image of compositional excellence as their primary impression. This is an album meant to influence its listeners, with both benevolent and malevolent means. When faced with an album they can’t quite comprehend and do not completely like, critics often call it “difficult”. This is precisely such a record." (Kuolleen Musiikin Yhdistys)

"Expect to hear one of these tracks over the credits of the next high-budget vampire action movie soon." (Foxy Digitails)

"I expected some doom and gloom along the lines of Cold Meat Industry and yes, there are a couple of tracks that could have been easily made by, say, In Slaughter Natives, throughout this album there is a strong and healthy sense of experimentalism. [...] Skorpio has made a richly varied album of various moods and styles that makes however a solid and unified impression. A great album of turning an 'old' style into something 'new' and with an own signature." (Vital Weekly)

"Ydinkysymys: Syntyykö suuresta määrästä sekalaisia vaikutteita teollista sillisalaattia vai suomalaisen industrialin merkkiteos?
Niko Skorpio on noussut kokeellisen elektron pienissä piireissä tietoisuuteen ja arvostukseen useiden pienjulkaisujensa ja pyörittämänsä Some Place Else levy-yhtiön myötä. Escape From Heaven -levyllä kuullaan kaikuja miehen koko laajasta musiikillisesta historiasta. Meluisaan dark ambientiin kietoutuu viitteitä Thergothonin raskaudesta, This Empty Flow:n eteerisestä popista ja edelleen aktiivisen Reptiljan-projektin raastavuudesta.
Tyylilajien kirjo välittyy kuulijalle aluksi vain poukkoiluna genrestä toiseen. Paketin kokoavana voimana tuntuvat toimivan ainoastaan kolkko, hieman eteerinen äänimaisema ja silkka ennalta-arvaamattomuus. Skorpion tyylitaju ei kuitenkaan pääse pettämään pahasti kertaakaan, joten useampien kuuntelukertojen myötä kunnianhimoinen kokonaisuus alkaa hahmottua.
Ensikuuntelun jälkeen levyltä jää päällimmäisenä mieleen nimikappaleen raskaan metallinen riffittely, jota voisi pitää vaikka kannanottona industrial-termin ryöstöviljelyyn metallimusiikin yhteydessä. Skorpio yhdistää nämä kaksi genreä tavalla, joka saanee useammankin industrial-puritanistin nyökyttelemään hyväksyvästi termien yhteiskäytölle. Vaikka kappale lunastaakin paikkansa levyllä, ei se kuitenkaan edusta aivan sen terävintä kärkeä, toisin kuin huuruisesti trip-hoppaileva viitoskappale tai kolmeen osaan jaettu itämainen Dudael.
Escape from Heaven on vaikea ja hitaasti avautuva teos modernia suomalaista industrialia. Tyylipuhtaan dark ambient -aloituksen jälkeen se onnistuu yllättämään kuulijansa useampaan kertaan. Skorpion vähäeleiset, hypnoottiset vokaalit houkuttelevat astumaan musiikillisten kokeilujen ja okkultististen sanaleikkien valtakuntaan." (Vertigo)

"Niko Skorpio on tehnyt pitkän uran valtavirran ulkopuolella. Jo kuusitoista vuotta sitten kulttibändi Thergothonissa vaikuttanut mies pyörittää levy-yhtiö/nettikauppaa Some Place Else sekä on mukana lukuisissa eri bändeissä ja projekteissa. Itse muistelisin kuulleeni Skorpion tuotoksia ensi kerran melkeinpä kymmenen vuotta sitten legendaarisessa Avaruusromua-ohjelmassa. Miehen uusin, omaa nimeä kantava julkaisu on pitkällisen työn tulos. Levyllä on materiaalia viimeiseltä viideltä vuodelta. Tavallaan levyn voisi sanoa kiteyttävän miehen koko musiikillisen historian.
Hieman rönsyilevästä kokonaisuudesta huolimatta lopputulos on laadukasta ja monipuolista industrialia. Skorpion kanssa on oltava yhtä mieltä siitä, että levyn vaihtuvan tunnelmallisuuden takia yhtäläisyydet alan pioneereihin ovat todellakin läsnä. Vertaukset brittiyhtyeisiin kuten Coil, Psychic TV ja Throbbing Gristle löytyvät myös levyn ulkomusiikillisista teemoista sekä erityisesti Coil vokaaliosuuksien mielipuolisuudesta. Skorpiolla on kuitenkin oma, erityinen tyyli joka eroaa muuta suomalaisesta ja muustakin tämän hetkisestä industrialista ja dark ambientista. Kautta levyn ilmenevä tinkimättömyys ja suoranainen hulluus ovat sellaista, jota toivoisi ilmenevän useamminkin tämän tyylilajin tuotoksissa." (Miasma)

"Entinen This Empty Flow -mies tunnelmoi kokeellisesti. This Empty Flowssa ja Thergothonissa uransa ensiaskeleet ottaneen Niko Skorpion muusikontaival on kulkenut varsin erilaisia polkuja kuin hänen entisen yhtyetoverinsa Jori Sjöroosin. Siinä missä Sjöroos on siirtynyt kohti kaupallisempia ja helpommin lähestyttäviä alueita muun muassa Fu-Touristin ja PMMP:n kanssa, on Skorpio liikkunut täysin päinvastaiseen suuntaan.
Vain pieni osa Escape from Heavenista on musiikkia sanan perinteisessä merkityksessä. Niko Skorpio koostaa soundinsa muun muassa hälyäänistä, syvistä äänimaisemista, oudoista puhesampleista ja junnaavista rytmeistä. Jossain dark ambientin ja kokeilevan industrialin välimaastossa risteilevä tunnelmointi on perussävyltään mystistä, miltei meditatiivista, ja okkultistinen imago sopii hyvin kuvaan.
Teollisuusmetalliksi vääntyvä nimiraita on kitaroineen ja mongertavine lauluosuuksineen yllätys, joka ei kuitenkaan toimi aivan toivotulla tavalla. Skorpio luottaa liikaa samoihin tehokeinoihin läpi levyn. Escape from Heaven on silti ajoittain äärimmäisen kiehtovaa äänitapettia, jota kelpaa ihastella kuulokkeet korvillla sängyllä maaten." (Rumba)

"Enemmän metallia kuin industrial- tai ambient-musiikkia kuuntelevana Niko Skorpion uuden levyn nimikappale varastaa huomion. "If the price of existence is eternal warfare / what does a moment of peace cost?" painostava kappale kysyy ja kierrättää ministrymäisen likaisesti Slayerin Hell Awaitsin intron riffejä nykien ja repien. Tyylikäs toteutus, mutta kappaleen selkeä kumarrus metallin eturivin yhtyeelle estää näkemästä metsää puilta kun Escape From Heavenia haluaa tarkastella kokonaisuutena. Levy on paljon enemmän.
Niko Skorpion diskografiasta löytyy yhtyeitä kuten Thergothon ja This Empty Flow. Sooloartistina hän on julkaissut musiikkia jo kahdeksan vuoden ajan, ollen samalla osa monia projekteja. Uusi levy on viiden vuoden sävellystyön tulos, jolla Skorpio on pyrkinyt luomaan useista eri vaikutteista itsenäisen ja erityisesti yksilön vapautta korostavan lopputuloksen. Levy on synkkä, mutta vapaus on vahvasti musiikin tunnelmassa läsnä.
Escape From Heaven on levy, jonka jokainen kuulija kokee omalla tavallaan. Voi innostua nimibiisin industrialmetallista tai syventyä Downfall Of The Absolutesin äänimaisemaan, kokea kylmiä väreitä Herman Koppin elokuvamusiikin tunnelmasta muistuttavan Shugalin parissa tai vain kuunnella rauhassa jonnekin edellä mainittujen välimaastoon sijoittuvan O-kappaleen hidasta marssia.
Escape From Heaven on rauhallisuutta kuuntelemiseen vaativa, runsassisältöinen levy, joka taipuu hankalasti arvosteltavaksi. Niko Skorpion rohkeutta ja kykyä saada nämä äänet pois sisältään äänilevymuotoon muutetuksi on kunnioitettava." (Inferno)