No, I am not mistaken – there really is a band that thought it was a good idea to call themselves Floodland.  I wonder if they are Sisters Of Mercy fans?

Sadly, I will have to make this review very quick and hopefully, less painful for the band.  I don’t like this.  And I don’t imagine that many other people will find much to get excited over with this release either.  Austria’s Floodland present a potentially cool mix of synthetic Darkwave programming with several different guitar sounds sprinkled throughout.  However, the vocals are a major distraction from the overall success of the music.  Floodland is fronted by a male vocalist that constantly strains himself to sing lower than he is capable of singing, resulting in a despicable, embarrassing, and unintentionally humourous effect. Even when he attempts a few lines of spoken word, the result is disastrous and extremely overdramatic.  As much as I tried, I just found it impossible to take this band seriously.  I feel bad, because more than likely, his accent is what causes his voice to sound so garbled and such.  However, I don’t think that every Austrian male that tries to sing would end up sounding like a vampire with marbles in his mouth, so something is not right here.  The vocal clichés are overpowering and it really is a shame because the music is honestly not that bad, and the ideas are far more interesting than the ideas of most other active bands trying to make a dent in the Goth world.  But Floodland desperately needs to find a new frontman.

There really isn’t much else I can say.  I hear shades of the Sisters (of course), Suspiria, Type O Negative, Moonspell, Two Witches – all fantastic influences.  Floodland manages to do a great job mixing their synthetic influences with their more organic ideas, for an edgy and interesting sound that is all their own.  But then the vocals kick in and just ruin everything.  I feel terrible, but alas, I can’t recommend this because most people that I know would dismiss it immediately and make fun of the vocals for days on end.  There is talent here, but someone needs to take over the microphone.

Track List:
1.) Enthymeme
2.) Dorian
3.) Morning Won’t Come Tonight
4.) Rainchild
5.) Dark Town
6.) Pile Of Delusion
7.) Coincidence
8.) Decay
9.) Rejected
10.) First Flower After The Flood

Floodland is:
Christian Meyer - vocals, programming
Harald Schmid - bass, keyboards, soundscapes
Bernhard Wieser - guitars, patterns
Markus Schmid - drums, loops

W.A.B. Promotions:
http://wabrecords.org

Floodland – Official Website:
http://www.floodland.org

Napalm Records:
http://www.napalmrecords.com

05/10/03