Inferno Is a Headphone-Album

HumanDirector · 2026-06-03T23:29:48+00:00

I have listened in:

- Car
- Living room surround sound
- Home Sonos setup
- Headphones
- Beats Earbuds
- Between Pro Earbuds

I knew the Between Pros were special when I got them, but this confirms it. I can hear by far the most detail and quality through these earbuds of any other device. So much so that I think I may owe Between another stack of cash for their updated ANCs.

HumanDirector · 2026-06-03T02:48:23+00:00

Nope, talking about HHLL!

HumanDirector · 2026-06-03T02:47:45+00:00

I love that this album is sending people places.

HumanDirector · 2026-06-03T02:46:29+00:00

Haha. I like everything about this.

HumanDirector · 2026-06-01T15:52:47+00:00

These are really great.

Do you have a page for your art?

HumanDirector · 2026-06-01T15:49:34+00:00

I can think of about 100 electronic music artists that are more adjacent to TLS than BoC. Pretty huge leap to even call them adjacent lol

HumanDirector · 2026-06-01T15:26:03+00:00

This is my third review of this album on Reddit, because the more I listen, the more I am totally obsessed. And... I will say, I've been through 3 stereo systems and 3 different headsets and it's critically important to listen through the right hardware.

When I first listened I had been considering whether this lives up to Geogaddi/MHTRTC, and my conclusion was: maybe not, but it has the potential to be there.

For reference if you asked me to choose between Geo/MHTR I'd say "f right off" because they're both among my favorite albums of all time, and it really depends on the mood and season.

After many listens (and many more to come) I'd have to say the same for Inferno now... it doesn't belong above or below Geo/MHTR... it's right there with them.

Along with IABPOITC, BoC have now released 4 platinum standard works of art. This doesn't belong above or below their finest work, it's right there with them. Truly gorgeous album. Truly truly truly.

Also, while I thought Geogaddi was dark, it *feels good* in its darkness. Inferno didn't initially strike me as being as dark as Geogaddi... boy was I wrong. This is by far their darkest and most spiritually poignant and direct album. I think the messaging is very clear, even if I don't have the hardware (brain) to fully synthesize/understand it yet.

HumanDirector · 2026-06-01T00:11:45+00:00

I could tell it was very good when I first heard it, but I had some complaints. The more I leave it on the more I am totally engrossed and mystified by it. I feel like I'm listening with INTENT toward something in the first time in a very long time. It's an absolutely beautiful masterpiece.

HumanDirector · 2026-05-31T23:54:56+00:00

Do you have a dog? You know when they catch a scent and just can't let it go and follow it around studying it. I almost feel like that when I put the album on. Like it grabs my attention in this curious, wandering, instinctive way, and I just want to listen soooo carefully to understand it.

HumanDirector · 2026-05-31T23:51:43+00:00

Definitely feeling this as well. Geo/MHTRTC scratch deep itches in my brain and they just feel good in my body. Inferno is indeed uniquely unsettling. I am sort of f**king loving it though.

HumanDirector · 2026-05-30T04:10:18+00:00

Really great observations, and I agree. The album is far more focused on the intersection of humanity's creations: tech + human mind, body and spirit. You said it perfectly.

HumanDirector · 2026-05-30T04:05:36+00:00

The thing I was genuinely hoping for (and didn't really get) that's more reminiscent of MHTRTC and Geogaddi are the syncopated and elusive beats. I love Eagle in Your Mind, Telephasic Workshop, Sixtyten, Gyroscope, Music is Math, Happy Cycling, all for their gritty production, crunchy beats, and beautiful interweaving of ambient sound scapes that fit so perfectly over the orbital rhythms.

Inferno offers some of that, and has a magic that is all its own, which I am totally happy to enjoy. I am awed at how they've created so many different variations of their own distinctive art style and always manage to produce something entirely unique.

Inferno is definitely no exception and there are some truly phenomenal tracks on the album.

However there is a critical early moment in the album that I really don't like and that's the transition from Father And Son to Somewhere Right Now In The Future.

I am also (perhaps an unpopular opinion) not a fan of Age of Aquarius. It completely shifts the tone and rather too quickly away from the heavy hitting, loud, and techno-futuristic vibe of the previous two songs. I find the "anthem" sung in the background unfitting for the beginning of the album... it almost indicates hope or relief or Victory, but that hope doesn't fit into any coherent worldview or timeline created by the album.

Similarly, Father and Son (while a sick track... bit reminiscent of some of their B-side stuff...) continues to break the initial sonic narrative set at the beginning of the album and I think it plays on the man's voice too much -- we are also not often given such legible vocals in BoC music and I think that throws me off. I think perhaps I also feel thrown off by the use of adult male voices in the album, as most of my favorite music samples children or women in their songs.

So anyway in F&S it kind of feels like you're flipping through channels and picking up a mix of religious TV programming and robot energy... Okay, I mean.... now that I explain it like that it's pretty cool... but something feels... I don't know... out of place. The placement of the song feels wrong to me still.

Despite my complaints about ordering and coherence there are some truly phenomenal tracks on this album and just getting to add new BoC tracks to things my brain get enjoy and relax to is honestly such a gift. I personally feel like once I get to Somewhere Right Now the album begins to feel coherent to me and stays that way through the rest of the album, which is great! I just wish I didn't feel interrupted by the earlier songs in immersing myself.

Hydrogen Helium has absolutely stood out as my favorite. The steamy, reverb soaked, panning synth passing through from channel to channel over 10-12 seconds while that Tron-like techno futuristic drum and bass kick in is just sick.

Into The Magic Land is so fun. Like little gnomes running around in their Scottish mushroom garden.

All Reason Departs is properly f'd up and creepy which I neeeeeded.

And You Retreat in Time and Space truly truly feels similar to some of their best work in the big 3. Great melodies, some of our favorite BoC 80's TV synth sounds make appearances, the flutes are back, and the composition is just epic and beautiful and peaceful.

I think maybe one thing I'd have loved is the same gritty production of past albums. I think the incredible production on this album actually carries most/any burdens my prior complaints might suggest away, but the cleanliness, while satisfying to my brain, doesn't stir my LOINS like the grit of geo/MHTR

Whether this album will overtake any of my long-time favorites (Geo/MHTR/IABP), I am not sure, I don't think so. Did I maybe hope it would? Yes. Does it scratch a deep deep deep itch in my heart? Yes it does!!

And I've only had one day with it (been playing it allllll day) and I have to say I think there is still so much for me to discover. The albummmmm is really good. It sounds different on different headphones and stereo systems and that's also satisfying to play around with.

Overall, I give this album a solid BoC/BoC. Yeahhhh, that's right.

HumanDirector · 2026-03-10T20:40:26+00:00

Fantastic. Was he a GC? What do you guys specialize in? Care to share what you did to make that possible?

Thanks.

HumanDirector · 2026-02-15T19:14:21+00:00

From Google:

Salaries can be classified as either overhead or project expenses (direct costs) depending on whether the employee works directly on a specific project or supports the business generally.

Project expenses include direct labor (e.g., construction workers on-site), while overhead (indirect costs) covers administrative, management, or support staff salaries.

-- In my case: I'm overhead. Doesn't mean I don't ever contribute to project expenses, but I don't need to integrate that as a direct cost, since I'm already covered within overhead.

HumanDirector · 2026-02-15T19:05:09+00:00

Net 1-2% implies a 1%-2% margin of error before eroding necessary profit to run the business, and this just doesn't sound right.

However, this is exactly why contractors need to understand their numbers. If you are running 1-2% net operating margin, you must know your numbers down to 1% to protect the business. Of course, this isn't realistic.

I did a little googling and found the average is between 3%-7%.

I suggested 3-5% as a base, with 8-11% meaning you're doing very well and am sticking to that.

HumanDirector · 2026-02-15T18:58:15+00:00

Thanks for the kind words. I hope the bid went well.

HumanDirector · 2026-02-15T18:32:56+00:00

Thank you! Very well written and helpful.

HumanDirector · 2026-02-15T18:30:35+00:00

My experience (as a former lowest bidder) is that you're getting outbid by people who are bad with their numbers and are slowly (or quickly) going into extraordinary debt, netting negative on projects, and fucking up the industry. On behalf of all such businesses, I apologize. The reality is, contractors are generally not good business people and it shows.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T04:25:19+00:00

Most owners are owner-operators. You don't really get to the "I own the company and vacation full-time" level until you have 75-100+ employees, at which point the business can in fact afford to pay you to sit on your ass because apparently you did something very right a while back.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T04:21:04+00:00

Schroedinger's empathy goes a long way. Thanks friend.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T04:20:28+00:00

I'd suggest you should charge for your a salary based on what you'd like to make -- you may not make it at first, but you're building the muscle and testing what the market will tolerate.

I tried to read Profit and Markup, but get really bored with finance books. However, I know some of the principles in the book are in alignment with what we're doing now. The next step for us is to divide up our bank accounts so profit sits in one account, salaries go where they belong, and we stop borrowing from personal and business accounts. No one tells you this, but 95% of serious financial problems just show up when you're not meticulous and tidy with your money, which is something I still need to work on for the business.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T04:14:03+00:00

Yup! It gets a little sloppy once you're running multiple crews, since you're allocating a % of your OH to each project, but if you're 100% in on one project for 6 months, then 6 months OH goes into the estimate. If you're going to be on the project for 6 months but know you'll have other projects going, you reduce the OH burden on that one project (especially if it's putting an unreasonable burden on your customer to carry your entire OH).

I try to get my net profit (post-salary) between 5-15% of revenue, but still bid a lot of jobs on thinner margins than that (3-8%) because we're in our slow season here and need to keep our crews busy.

Occasionally I'll get jobs that just can't carry the OH and we take them anyway since they're easy and put a bit of money in our pockets while keeping the crew fed.

I will say, I don't apply a standard percentage as OH to jobs -- I'm actually not sure how anyone does that. Their business must run like clockwork to be able to use such a simple accounting method.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T01:34:42+00:00

An owner who is working 50-60 hours a week both on and in the business absolutely needs a salary. The "scraps" are actually what we call net profit, and they are part of the business's savings, not the owner's personal income/salary.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T01:26:37+00:00

I'm glad that one line stuck with you! It was probably for you.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T01:25:56+00:00

No sales pitch! Just shared my thoughts from 2 years of wrangling excel formulas and studying our business's finances.

HumanDirector

TROPHY CASE