On top of my television sits a life-size grey skull. On top of the skull sits a small luminous rat. On top of the rat I have balanced, as a suitable angle, the CD cover, which gives an overall effect of a spectral headmaster. On the CD sleeve we find a face that looks unnervingly like Siobhan during Shakespeare’s Sister’s ‘Stay’. What on Earth is going on?

It’s only a short album, at approximately forty minutes for the seven tracks, and most have a safe, wintry feel to warm the cockles of your heart, which is the general All About Eve effect. They have managed to sound resolutely modern, while at the same time maintaining something of a demure approach, which masks the duplicitous alchemy at work on this project that will soon, I fear, strike terror into your hearts.

The good news is that there’s two new songs here, with ‘Melting’ being suitably winsome, in a stress-free sleepy manner, not unlike an Ally McBeal episode ending, where people walk forlornly home, with the emphasis on alone. It’s that kind of music. Then we have ‘Cold’, which is mainly instrumental and has about it in a moody, knowing feel. On top of that, in terms of expected rewards, you get ‘December Revisted’ which is gauzier than the original, moving into ethereal territory. In the anteroom to Heaven, distorted memories are left free to drift. Things turn livelier in the lumpy closing track that you would never know was them, as the cycloptic dance twist ‘December Amnesia Mix’, is more like Collide. It would have been brilliant to hear some hoarse vocals of a dark, brittle variety with this, to move it even further away, but instead the voice is all but hidden. Cop out!

But why is this all happening? Could it be that these Reganomics follow on from their sudden thirst for musical dictatorship? They think they can simply run their tanks across any territory they see fit? Well yes, actually. What I am about to say may seem shocking, so I suggest you settle yourself carefully, because there are three cover versions included, and I have to mention the following names – Wham, Aled Jones, and Queen.

I do apologise. I also must repeat them, in case you think I’m pissing about. Wham, Aled and Queen. It scarcely makes sense does it? Apart from dubious choirboy porn, it’s hard to see how the names could ever be mentioned in the same breath, but in the context of this album, it actually works. The songs are striped bare, and you have simple loops and breathy vocals, often with a deadened feel, where a breeze slips through them all, in a strange, at times disembodied, way. They actually make ’Last Xmas’ into a delightful song, slowed to a cautious speed, and seeming quite charming. The ‘Snowman’ theme (Walking In The Air!!!) is recognisable on a basic level but musically this is ultra-minimal, barely the ghost of a tune, verging on Twin Peaksesque. Queen’s ‘A Winter’s Tale’ is actually so close to the expected Julianne lyrical worldview that it fits perfectly, a warmer, enfolding experience, but still light, and delicate, like a dream.

If this was a new band you’d be confused, but drooling. So be honest, and get one. It is great to see they can still do it.

LAST XMAS
WALKING IN THE AIR
DECEMBER REVISITED
MELTING
COLD
A WINTER’S TALE
DECEMBER AMNESIA MIX

http://www.allabouteve.net
http://www.voiceprint.co.uk
 

Android Lust
The Dividing
~reviewed by Mike Ventarola

The electronic underground was privy to a new phenomenon that began in the autumn of 1995. This was the point where history was made as Android Lust embarked on a musical path that heretofore was simply crowded exclusively with male artists.

Shikhee, a.k.a. Android Lust, has a background ranging from classical to contemporary music. Her attempts with several traditional bands proved less than satisfying, causing her to take a major musical rethink and become a solo artist.

After her successful and well received releases, Android Lust takes us even further into the world of mechanized and organic style music. The Dividing, which was two and a half years in the making, takes on post modern industrial music and weaves a scalpel’s precision of elements ranging from punk, pop and rock, forging yet again new territory with what could best be described as neo-industrial.  The songs tackle emotional elements such as loss, discovery, regret and carnivorous loathing. This DarkVisionMedia release also boasts a special CD-ROM packed with photo’s, lyrics and a bonus track.

The Dividing also features guest musicians such as Lew Del Gatto (Saturday Night Live Band) on Flute, Christopher Jon ( I, Parasite) on live drum performances, Scott Slapin (the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra) on viola, as well as touches of Shikhee’s acoustic guitar mixed within the palette.

“Division” opens with a funereal style organ as Shikhee drones and self harmonizes, crafting an interchange between man and machine. The organs manage to coalesce and dance with a touch of Celtic flavor, demonstrating from the outset that there is a decided organic yet electronic interplay going on.

“Kingdom Of One” slams in with the trademark noise electronics while the keyboard percussion rushes us into a maelstrom of fuel injected beats. Shikhee’s vocals take on an urgency and overwrought intonation whose drive hasn’t been heard since the early punk rock days.

“Panic Wrought” adds layers of electronic gloom that bubble and coalesce, making it rather dark with a “goth”  feel but not necessarily “goth.” The percussive beats elevate the track to club floor status while Shikhee infuses an almost desperate and lost soul delivery of the lyrics.

“Follow” sends out electronic laser beams on a seek and search mission. The track is mid tempo and adds so many interwoven elements that accompany her sotto voce delivery expertly.

“The Want” has been featured on her site on Mp3, but quite frankly, if one has only heard this track via a regular modem, you are missing a lot. The electronic percussive elements are intact, as is Shikhee’s desolate and subconscious delivery. However, the high and low ends from the fully mastered song simply bounce from the cavernous spaces, daring the listener to take a voyeuristic look into her world.

“The Stained” tackles dark electronics with atmospherics that are haunting and quite delicious. This is one mid-tempo sexy groove, that it would be unthinkable for any DJ NOT to feature it at some point in the night. We are also treated to an almost pop crossover vocal intonation, demonstrating the strong range that Shikhee possesses.

“Unbeliever” once again percolates underneath as sound and spatial atmosphere lead us into a dark electronic world. The vocals undertake a melancholic and pensive feeling, painting a hybrid backdrop between outward calmness coupled with internalized angst and uncertainty, earmarking this track for the club set.

“Another Void” flourishes with touches of classical elements, as though strained through a space-time continuum. Percussive and marching drum effects pick up the pace while other electronic elements bounce off of each other and the vocals.

“Fall To Fragments” opens with a beautiful flute rendition which segues to Shikhee’s sensuous vocals that are then cut up in razor blade fashion. Throughout the hypnotic percussive beat, the flute remains the counter point and base line where everything else is wrapped around it.

“Sex and Mutilation” veers into the familiar Android Lust territory of icy electronics. Imagine Die Form thrust 35 years into the future to get an idea of just how calculated this track was constructed.

“Burn” begins with a classical moroseness that reminds one of a gloomy and rainy day. The soulful element and lamentation is given an Elizabethan twist where Shikhee can be envisioned at a spinet, pining away for lost opportunities in life.

Having heard the entire back catalog of Android Lust, clearly this is without question the best work Shikhee has created to date. The songs take on more than just an electronic element, as she has interjected many comprehensive atmospheres, elements and intonations. Most of the songs are destined to be club hits, but there are also tracks meant for moments of introspection as well.

Unlike many of the male counterparts in the electronic realm, Shikhee doesn’t need to compress her vocals down to some white noise element simply because she CAN sing. Being female also allows her the extra liberty of taking emotional feeling beyond just the parameter of rage to bring to the table something that most male fronted acts cannot or will not do. That, coupled with her uncanny ability to hear music in everyday sounds and take on the task to recreate it into a viable musical medium demonstrates the precision and astuteness she brings to her craft. It is precisely her ability to bring an emotional component to the neo-industrial movement that will once again make her work a benchmark for others to emulate in the future. Android Lust is anything but dull and one never knows what else Shikhee will pull from the stratosphere to taunt, tease and bedazzle us with. Do seek out this recording as it conveys sound and music unlike anything on the market at the present time. Rest assured, there will be many imitators though few will be able to connect with the organic and electronic elements the way Android Lust has.

Tracks:
Division
Kingdom Of One
Panic Wrought
Follow
The Want
Stained
Unbeliever
Another Void
Fall To Fragments
Sex and Mutilation
Burn

The current live Android Lust members are:
Shikhee (vox, keys)
Christopher Jon (drums, keys, backing vox)
TrevorG (keys, bass, guitar)

Website: www.androidlust.com

Available at:
Amazon.com | Broken Seal (Germany) | CD Baby | DSBP | Gemm | Isolation Tank | Metropolis Mail Order | Middle Pillar | Projekt/Darkwave | Storming the Base (Canada)
 

Azam Ali
Portals of Grace
~reviewed by Jyri Glynn

Equally matched within the musical veins of such vocalists as Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance), Loreena McKennitt, and Enya, Azam Ali’s debut album, Portals of Grace, adds her own touch of Medieval European flare to the genre.  This is a cd that will certainly be appreciated by any eclectic listener.

Formerly the vocalist for world-music group Vas, Azam Ali describes her music as ‘alternative world’, a term which she defines as music that transcends cultural and geographic specificity.  Her appeal easily reaches the souls of both ambient, new age and goth fans alike.

Ali was born in Iran and raised in India and with this album she truly exhibits the melodic emotions of her Middle Eastern heritage.  Drawing from many varieties of medieval styles, Portals of Grace includes songs in French, Latin, Arabic, Judeo-Spanish and Galician.  The music ranges from an early 14th century tune in the Provencal dialect to a 12th century song written by Comtessa Beatrix de Dia.

Portals of Grace transports its listener into a harmonious journey utilizing such exceptional world instruments as the hurdy gurdy, vielle, rebek, hammered dulcimer and the nyckelharpa to name only a few.  On track#7, titled "Sackpipslat", bagpipes are traditionally used to perform this Swedish medieval melody; instead, musician Ethan James demonstrates the full extent of the nyckelharpa.  This bowed instrument is worn much like a guitar yet is played with a short bow that runs over 16 strings: 3 melody strings, one drone string, and 12 sympathetic vibration (or resonance) strings creating a very haunting, yet exquisite result.

Each track on this album narrates its own story of traditional folktale and myth.  The album insert describes each song in its entirety with the story, history and the people they were written about.  Ali explains that her intent with this release was to give this traditional music a contemporary feel in hopes to expose its beauty to people who, with absolutely no reference point, may find the more purist, academic approach to be too austere or inaccessible.  With Portal of Grace this has been achieved.

Record Label Website: http://www.narada.com

Artist's Website: http://vasmusic.com/Bio's/azam_ali.htm

VAS:  http://www.vasmusic.com
 

Blood Axis & Les Joyaux de la Princesse
Absinthe: La Folie Verte
Athanor, ATNR 017
~reviewed by Saint Petrol

For those of you already familiar and enamored with either Blood Axis or Les Joyaux de la Princesse, you need not read much further.  You will not be disappointed by this piece of work; you need only purchase it and fall quickly in!

For those of you who remain unfamiliar with either Blood Axis or Les Joyaux de la Princesse, I encourage you to make a purchase or two, and find out exactly the brilliance you've been missing.  Blood Axis has been involved with several compiliation projects which are truly breathtaking, including projects inspired by the likes of Julius Evola, Lucifer, and Mithras; I very highly recommend these, no matter how difficult they may be to acquire!  Les Joyaux de la Princesse also has an impressive body of work which will sate any person's hunger for the burning, elegant landscapes of what has come to be known as "apocalyptic folk" music.

Now, to the album at hand.  If one has not had absinthe, it is quite possible to enjoy this music, because it is well done and lovingly created.  However, I feel that to truly understand how well and lovingly done this work is, one must have been held in the clutches of this green folly oneself.  To listen without knowing absinte would be, I imagine, like trying to understand the bright organic patterned chaos of the 60s without  having done psychedelic drugs, or like trying to understand the blacklight fascination of rave without ever having done ecstasy.  The aesthetics of the music reflect qualities of the experience that cannot otherwise be fully comprehended.

There is a certain beautiful horror reflected in this music which I feel is aptly expressed; something beautifully old, something covered in dust and splendid, but underneath, friend, underneath, can any person bear this wondrous horror?  Subtle, tender melodies float over echoing madness.  All of what has made the music of Blood Axis and Les Joyaux great before, has been honed, perfected, concentrated and focused within this green asylum.  All of the grandeur, all of the pomp and fury that has drawn me to apocalyptic folk in the past, is present here, along with the very spirit of absinthe itself.  The first two times I listened to the album, I sat in awe, and noted with amusement as waves of nausea passed through me.  The sounds of these works so aptly recall the experience of absinthe, I felt as if I were taken again, e'en though I had not been.

The perfection of this collection of sounds and songs is the result of years of experimentation and obsession with not only absinthe, but the culture and history behind the drink.  The album contains poems which were written at the turn of the century, and bits of songs written to and for absinthe, culled from old cylinder recordings and 78rpm records.  I have never, ever seen or heard and tribute to or journey through absinthe in sight or song, more beautiful than this album.  The cover artwork, the inner sleeve, the booklet within, and lastly, amazingly, the music; all of these things are done with unusual and un-common tenderness and care.  I recommend this album highly.  You won't feel you've wasted your money. It won't be one of those experiences where you wonder what all the hype's about.  You won't open your package arrived from afar, and wish you'd've picked something else.  I think you'll stop, like I did, and smile  to yourself, glad that people in the world still care about music this much.  Still care about anything this much.  My grateful thanks go out to Michael Moynihan, Eric Konofal, and everyone involved with this project.  Thanks also to Athanor, for continuing to be involved with projects like this one.  I go out into the world today because of this album, haunted and happy.  To absinthe, to obsession.  I raise my glass.

Track Listing:
1)  Folie Verte (I Am The Green Fairy)
2)  Symphonie Verte (And Here I Am, An Absintheur...)
3)  Minutes D'Absinthe (Let Me Be Mad, Mad With Absinthe)
4)  Absinthia Taetra (Opaline)
5)  Poison Vert (D'Apres Frederic Barbier)
6)  Avec Les Fleurs... Avec L'Absinthe (With Flowers And With Women)
7)  Variations Sur Le Theme De Corelli (By Venus And Cupid) & (That  Night, I Drank Deeply)
8)  Princesse Verte (D'Apres Emile Spencer)
9)  Fee Verte, Vous Etes Jolie (Chante Par Affre)

Worldwide distribution:  Audioglobe
USA distribution:  Metropolis, Middle Pillar, Soleilmoon.
http://www.middlepillar.com
http://www.soleilmoon.com

Blood Axis:  http://welcome.to/bloodaxis
Les Joyaux de Princesse:  http://www.ljdlp.net/
And a website about absinthe:
http://www.sepulchritude.com/chapelperilous/absinthe/absinthe.html
 

Bobby BeauSoleil
Orb
White Dog Music
~reviewed by Saint Petrol

First, for some background into the life and works of Bobby BeauSoleil, I strongly suggest you read previous interviews and reviews of his music, both at his website
(http://www.beausoleil.net/Bobby/bobframesert.htm) and in the  Starvox archives (http://www.starvox.net/crypt/dec2.htm).

I hold this music in my hands at a time in my life when I needed to hear it most. I feel lucky. One of the things I do when life is feeling a bit rough, is look up into the night sky. My fascination with our universe and specifically dark nights on earth, has lead me recently to spend a lot of time at a local observatory. If you have one near you and have never been, I highly encourage you to go. It seems like synchronicity that I have spent the past few weekends of my life looking at Saturn and the wondrous winter constellations, and then a CD called simply "Orb" arrives in my mailbox to be reviewed. All that is spherical, all that is luminescent, all that is deep and troubling and comforting and profound, all the wonder and mystery I find in the night sky, I hear and feel in  this music. I am amazed.

The CD begins with an overture called "Dreamways of the Mystic" which makes me wish that Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Bobby BeauSoleil could converse with guitars. That's a conversation I'd love to hear. Bobby's guitar is as soulful, haunting, and bright as David's work circa (ironically or not,) "Dark Side of the Moon". The next track is the beginning of a gorgeous four part piece called "In the Temple of the Moon". The sound of it almost sickens me with delight. It beautifully encompasses the breathless wonder I feel when I stand, with my eye to a telescope, and try to comprehend in any way possible, the majesty of the universe we live in. The sound and feel of the "Temple" tracks leaves me with my mouth a little dry and my heart pounding. Haunting, yes, but god, so full of profound weight, and depth, and hope, and delight. No one makes music quite like this. I cannot with any self-respect sit here and believe that my words can ever express why and how this music is magical. I can only encourage you with deepest sincerity, to expose yourself to these sounds without reservation.

The third and fifth tracks on the album concern one Punjab the Barber, and his Return. The music here is tactile, sensuous and strange. Beautifully exotic, and yet playful. An invitation to unknown customs, and unmapped deserts. Maybe I read too much Bradbury, but I like to believe that Punjab the Barber's desert is somewhere far, far from Earth's Allahabad. I like to pretend it's on Mars or one of Jupiter's moons.

"Songs of the Forest People" is the seventh track on the album, and again, I like to believe the people of this forest are from a place or a time far far from what we can comprehend. I like to close my eyes and imagine the buzzing insects of this forest are like none ever seen by human eyes, nor harmed by human hands. The entire atmosphere of this album calls me to push my mind further, further, out into what can be imagined. The constructs of these sounds point me not to memory of this Earth, or anything I've ever known whilst inhabiting it. The underlying framework of this music, of these sounds, seems to change and morph constantly. I cannot keep my mind on it. When I listen, I hear not so much the sounds themselves, but the cause of the sounds, which is timeless, limitless, without name or bound. This nearly frightens me, but I can't stop listening. "Songs for the Forest People" could be as much for the ravens who inhabit the LA County Zoo, as for the strange, feathered reptilians who live free in forests in other galaxies in other universes.

The final track on the album is the companion piece to the opening overture. "Dreamways of the Mystic Part I", somehow incorporates all of the ingredients of the tracks previous, and weaves them into one fantastic vision. Again, I am reminded of David Gilmour and Pink Floyd, which, as a fan of both, is from me, one of the highest compliments I could pay. But I will also happily point out that this is not, in fact, David Gilmour or Pink Floyd. There is something different here. This is the work of Bobby BeauSoleil, an individual, living, working, and breathing his own dreams, his own visions, his own galaxies, universes and atmospheres. I will always be grateful to him for singing with his guitars, for stretching out with his sounds. His music touches my life uniquely. This album is, in my opinion, his best yet. I will wear this one out, looking at the stars and the planets, and letting my mind go where it will.

Track Listing:
1) Dreamways of the Mystic -- overture
2) In the Temple of the Moon -- Part 1
3) Punjab the Barber
4) In the Temple of the Moon -- Part 2
5) Punjab Returns
6) In the Temple of the Moon -- Part 3
7) Songs of the Forest People
8) In the Temple of the Moon -- Part 4
9) Dreamways of the Mystic -- Part 1

To order this CD, please visit: http://www.whitedogmusic.com/artist.html
 

Belisha
People Of The Dark
~reviewed by Blu

If you were lucky enough to attend one of their shows on the West Coast of the U.S.A. you probably got your hands on this new CD and will have had a chance to hear what most people won't for a few more months yet (it's slated for a mid-April release in the UK and later for the rest of the world). Lucky, lucky people you. San Francisco DJ Rick A Mortis just named People of the Dark one of his top CDs of the year alongside work such as Cinema Strange, Penis Flytrap, Peter Murphy and David Bowie. Greg Fasolino, noted alternative music journalist and guitarist for The Naked And The Dead, has said it's a "damn good" CD and named their track, "The Fall Of The Evergreen," as his favorite off the StarVox Trinity Compilation. You see, it's not just me.

So what's all the excitement about you ask? Buzzing around subjects as diverse as UFOs, ghosts and paranormal activity, matters of the heart and rebellion against unfair practices of organized religion and government, is a complex, well produced, textured and musically powerful CD.  At times it's a seething ball of fury and criticism on political fronts; at other times it has all the abandon and fun of bouncy, riotous punk and every once in a while, there are moments of pure blissful beauty and heart-felt soul. If I had to make references for familiarity's sake, I'd say mix up a bowl of one part Sex Pistols (for the angry energy) and one part New Model Army (for the politics) and toss in a bit of Killing Joke, Led Zepplin and The Damned for musical flavor. It's not a perfect CD, I don't know any that are, but it is highly superior on many levels and will undoubtedly make my "Best Of' list at the end of the year.

What I first noticed is how crystal clear the production is. The sound is really top notch. Candy to the ears -- it's as crisp and brilliant as any CD done by a big name label. What makes this even more incredible is that this CD was engineered by Belisha's very own guitarist - Byder. Talk about a DIY band!

Track one, "Tribal Gathering," is a lush instrumental introduction that sets the theme for later songs. Mixing Christian commentary with samples of Middle Eastern religious music, it's exotic and disturbing at the same time especially in our current political climate. And while the absolute horror of misguided religious paths hangs in the air, they launch into their first song, "Agnostic Jihad" where no religion is spared criticism with the hope that we may someday as human beings, get beyond those differences and stop using them as means of murder and hate. The chorus opens up the song against the backdrop of Indian music for a worldly flavor helping to drive home the point that this is not about any one religion but all of them when used as excuses for racism and genocide. Big and bold and in your face they yell: "Your gods are dead."  Hitting upon perceived hypocrisy they sing, "Holy leaders, All religions, Love thy neighbour, Embracing murder, The truth now, Your gods are dead" all to the tune of pounding, guitar-heavy anthems. Highly energetic, angry and powerful, this song may well be their first single.

Track 3 is one that many may have downloaded off Belisha's website earlier this year. They wrote "People of the Dark" for the goth scene in appreciation for our support of their music (an unusual bit of thanks that we don't normally get from a non-goth bands).  If you've read any of the interviews done with this band you know that one of their goals is to crush the way the mainstream music industry works and they're more than happy to take us along for the ride:  "Dark ones, Take hold, People of the dark will meet  -- the realm is turning, People of the dark will set the land a burning..." Musically it's a mid-tempo song with a catchy melody that I've no doubt had running through my head many times since I first heard it.

Getting into more personal territory, "Pain" is a bleak and dramatic song centered around heartache and loss. It's driving tempo and guitar melodies echo the desperation and emotional turmoil of a broken heart searching for a reason to continue on. Vocalist Dan spits out the word "pain" on the chorus as if on the verge of complete frustration and breakdown. On the flipside of this emotional roller coaster they've taken us on, is lusty track "Want." Built around a staccato, bouncing bass line that lends itself to punk inclinations, it's lyrically romantic: "I held you I felt you I want you I need you I see you I breathe you I want you I need you." There's a nice bridge here that slows it down and changes the feel of the song for a bit before rousing back into the main chorus.

Track 6 does not have a title but a symbol. Upon first listen it appears to be a scratchy radio transmission of some kind and if you know Belisha and one of their favorite past times, it's not too hard to surmise that this is a recording of a UFO encounter. What makes this terribly interesting is that it's the actual transmission from one of the UK's top UFO controversies that happened in 1980 near RAF Woodbridge in eastern England. It's been dubbed the "Rendlesham File" and ironically, only recently has this information been made public. In press releases that hit the news on Nov. 29th, the complete government files have been made accessible to the public for the first time. It's completely fascinating to be able to hear this recording especially in light of the recent news. See more info on this case on CNN here and stay tuned to StarVox for a new interview with Belisha and more about this subject.

"Negative" is one of my favorite tracks because it's massively heavy and hard hitting. We've all had those people in our lives who insist in wallowing in their own pain for illogical reasons, who don't listen to reason, who refuse to help themselves, who seem to do nothing but bring everyone around them down.  That's the theme behind this song. With guitars that are almost metal in nature and lyrics that are nearly shouted and always fueled with anger; I daresay they'd attract a few headbangers with this one.

"Eyes That Blacken" is a great example of how keyboardist Pit uses samples and keyboards in just the right places to accent a piece rather than over loading a song with them as many modern bands tend to do. It starts with vocals over synthetic percussive elements so low you almost don't hear them and then a siren comes in blaring before giving way to bell tolls all to highlight yet another song about heartbreak. It develops into a fairly fast tempo propelled by a nice bouncy bass line.

Track 9 is a 43 second track titled "Lizzard" and if you've got the capability to play it backwards you will unlock the mysteries of the universe. Otherwise, it's a bit harsh on the ears. Don't get me wrong, I find these odd interludes (tracks 6 and 13 included) completely fascinating and they often aid in understanding what motivates this band; however, when you're listening to the CD over and over again in the car for the pure joy of hearing good music, this track gets to be a thorn in your side and I'm now automatically reaching for the "skip" button when it comes up. So perhaps, the idea was good and the sentiment important but the placement of it is bothersome when listening to this CD for purely musical reasons.

Next up is the jewel of the pile for many people. "Shroud of King" has been the surprise favorite with those who picked up the CD on their recent West Coast tour. It continues a theme first explored on their CD, The Hounded, in the track "Into the Casparian Sea."  Exotic and mysterious sounding, textured with more Middle Eastern melodies, it's got a good beat and great allure with it's adventuresome tale of kings and battles. Sexy and serpent-like it winds and slithers and begs your body to move to its rhythm.

Then we have track 11. To be completely objective I have to admit that "Hero" does not work for me. While the lyrics are obviously fueled by some strong emotion, the music itself seems much too pop-ish for its own good and to me, the lyrics lose their affect in the seemingly carefree tone. Even though it starts out a bit more down beat with a great bass led melody, by the chorus it's sing-songy and light and just too happy sounding for what the subject matter is. Could just be me.  It's not a bad song mind you - it has plenty of personality and I do catch myself sometimes bopping along to it; but something just does not click with me even as they whisper "I hate you I hate you I hate you" in the background. Maybe I'm missing the irony?

"The Fall Of The Evergreen" almost needs no introduction here as this was the first song released prior to this CD on a teaser EP and then again on the StarVox Trinity Compilation. It has been the song they've gotten most club play with and certainly a favorite for fans. This CD has a different version from the one on the EP, a bit more uptempo and more textured. It's been perfected and is seamless in production. This is a perfect example of the kind of tight rock n roll Belisha is capable of. The guitar here is especially good and varied - classically jangly in all the right places, screeching and ripping in some instances and distorted and dirty in others. The chorus is very addictive and the uptempo beats are hard to resist. I predict this is the song that will get them the most comparisons as a modern version of bands like The Cult.

If you're not paying attention track 13 will buzz by and you won't notice it. Or perhaps you'll only think, "odd, that's a bit of a long silence between tracks." But it's not silence. No no, it's another odd little treat Belisha has stuck in there for us called "Altered Ones". If you turn it up and listen to it with headphones on it should make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and chills run up your arms. At least it does to me every time I play it. Even though there is nothing to give away the subject matter per se; it is sufficiently spooky all on its own. I had a suspicion of what it was and later asked them about it and they confirmed it for me. What  you'll hear here is some EVP recordings - or Electronic Voice Phenomena - which is supposedly the low-audio sounds of paranormal activity caught on tape and only audible by intense magnification. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... creepy. Not recommended when all alone in a dark house.

Next is my favorite track on the CD if I had to pick just one and strangely, it's the most un-Belisha song of the bunch. It's an unlikely favorite to be sure but perhaps it's because they are usually so energetic and so boisterous and loud and angry that I appreciate the quiet beauty of this acoustic track all the more. Yes, I said acoustic. Belisha does indeed have a soft tender side though lord knows they don't let it out to play too often (and we wouldn't have it any other way). The music is utterly beautiful - delicate acoustic guitar with wonderful harmonized vocals and hand beat percussion. The lyrics are mystical and magical and the sentiment soars with emotion and wonder. I've yet to unravel the mystery of this story but I'm working on it: "Silence for the approaching king, Sexless mighty and meek, Viper in a tarmac bind, Dances slow with each of, Maria and her western girls, Swirl with stealth and reach, Lies they say and fires they make, The lone ghosts gently weep."  Keyboard lines hint at heart-pulling string melodies and I can only imagine how much more dramatic this song would be backed with a real set of string players. There is a section right before the final verse where the acoustic guitar really gears up and the notes are picked bright and fast and it almost brings me to tears. I have literally set this song on repeat in order to listen to it over and over again and haven't got tired of it yet.

Speaking of ghosts and paranormal things, "Old Barbed Wire" is another unusual track - a spoken word part set in a creepy dreamscape that seems to portray a vision of a battled and beat army. I like it because the subject matter is pretty morbid and being a silly American, I find the British accent completely delightful. I do have one small complaint though. Despite the superb production on all the other tracks, the beginning of this one seems entirely too loud. For some reason that first rush of harp is just overpowering and I find myself turning it down for a few seconds only to have to turn it up again to hear the vocal part. I'm unsure if this was done on purpose -- as a way of whisking the listener down into this dream world -- but it's loud enough to make me adjust the volume every time and that's a tad annoying. Beyond that little bit of criticism, I think it's a fairly effective as a descriptive soundscape on the horrors of war and the mis-guided evil that humans are capable of.

"Rising" continues their anti-religious theme but in a less aggressive way than "Agnostic Jihad" did. The lyrics are a bit more cryptic, almost riddlelike: "Buried in the certain veil, Balance form soul to sail, Suffer with the Holy Ghost, Every man needs it most." This music is laid back but still heavy in a kind of dramatic stadium-band way and it's really grown on me the more I listen to this CD. It's deceptively more complex than you think upon first listen.  Myself and others have found odd comparisons between Belihsa and bands like Led Zepplin and I find that most apparent here although I think it was entirely unintentional. It starts out with keyboard lines that are  both regal and a bit psychedelic in tone with long, drawn out guitars and rumbling low bass lines. The drums are heavy and accented. The chorus is strong and clear and very catchy. The keys are the real stars of this one because this song suddenly changes and builds to a feverish dirge of sorts, each instrument, one by one chiming in on a the same melody line until a whole orchestra is let loose and it's pounding very heavily altogether completing a dramatic climax with accompanying  break beats in the percussion (and this is where it's most like Zepplin). It never fails to make me head bang like a highschool boy. I love it.

And finally, my second favorite song and by far my favorite in their live show is "Illuminati." Accessible in a good way, aggressive and another great example of that kind of excitement I can only tag as "Belisha Energy." It's angry and alive. It's especially fun in headphones or in a good surround sound system on the chorus because you get Dan whispering in your ear and then you get pierced on all sides by the group chorus. I'm almost obsessive about this chorus - it literally just RIPS out of the speakers. It's like a good roller coaster ride. Musically they just go insane on this one. There's a guitar solo in it that's off the hook and the drumming get maniacal.  Subject wise it's their "love song" to world governments and just the kind of tongue-n-cheek cynicism that I like best in this band. On CD and especially live, Dan goes completely mad and we get the full extent of his anger as no one is left out of this political reaming: "Fuck G8, Fuck Rockefeller, Fuck Rothschild, Ruck UN, Fuck Nato, Fuck Bilderberg!"

I think Johnny Rotten would be proud.

Track Listing
1. Tribal Gathering
2. Agnostic Jihad
3. People Of The Dark
4. Pain
5. Want
6.
7. Negative
8. Eyes That Blacken
9. Lizzard
10. Shroud of King
11. Hero
12. The Fall Of The Evergreen
13. Altered Ones
14. The Lone Ghost
15. Old Barbed Wire
16. Rising
17. Illuminati

Belisha is:
Dan - Vocals
Byder - Guitar
Elrik - Bass
Pit  - Keys
Hawl - Drums

Belisha website:
www.belisha.com

Management and label:
Filthy Sonnix Records

Bella Morte
The Quiet
~reviewed by Basim. [Rhymes w/ Possum]

Gosh, for a scene that prides itself in being creative, Goth sure seems to ride trends often. Yesterday’s Nosferatu, Rosetta Stone and The Wake are today’s VNV, Apop and Covenant. Whether it be Sister clones, or by-the-numbers EBM, what succeeds in our scene is almost always formulaic. For this very reason, Virginia’s Bella Morte sticks out like a sore thumb among the current heap of bands today. While fellow Americans Cruxshadows seem to have taken up a decidedly Eurocentric sound drawn from a fairly limited -cynics would say reserved- list of influences (VNV, Apop), Bella Morte has done the exact opposite. There is no doubt this is an American band whose sound takes cues from a wide range of influences – many of which, I’m happy to report, have no association with the Goth/Industrial scene whatsoever!

The opener, "Regret", turned out to be my favorite song in their set at the Boston gig they played last June. It had this killer energy to it that can only be described as ROCK. Opening with a simple synth part, it’s pretty hard to imagine how intense the music gets. Alongside, Andy rants:

Where has the warmth within your voice gone?
It seems your care has died away
I wander through a thousand questions,
Never knowing what to say.
Lift your palms – your hands are soiled,
And the guilt now lights your eyes,
‘Will I know or will I wander?’
The voice of severed ties.

Years will pass and you’ll remember,
All that died within your grasp.
And I’ll be gone – you’ll sleep uneasy,
Upon a bed built of regret.
You won’t forget the loss of passion
As the past sleeps in your mind,
Years will pass and you’ll be searching
For things you’ll never find.

Beneath the days there lies indifference,
Your smile can’t retract lies,
And my nights will find their comfort,
In the knowledge that I tried.
Were your words always so empty?
Have I been blinded by your light?
My doubts were real from the beginning
Unlike the final tears you cried.

Next up is "Logic", which seems to be the antithesis of "Regret" in terms of tone and depth. "Regret"s brooding burned us from the inside, while Logic has no gripes standing up and standing out as just a fun, silly zombie song! It’s got these big arena rock drums and HUGE guitars. I’ve reached a conclusion; this is the song that should have been in Reanimator. There’s nothing I’d like to see more than Herbert West killing and reanimating crippled kittens to the sound of this track. The music has got this horror industrial feel to it, and the vocal melody really carries the sentiments well. I urge you to download it from their mp3.com site and make opinions of your own.

Moving on, here comes the lyrical prequal to "Regret" (notice how everything ties into that song?), "Whispers". To me, this is one of the most interesting tracks on the whole album. It centers on Andy’s vocal part and Gopal’s descending bass line. Like any song that has a descending bass line as its focal point, this could really shine as an acoustic ballad. Not that it doesn’t shine as is, because the song is gorgeous, and with lyrics like "Sleep another hour, dear just close your eyes // For time is fading quickly from outside", it succeeds making the girls blush. Gee, thanks for keeping every girl I ever dated distracted – Jerks! What I find really endearing about the song is that more then any other on the album, this piece reminds of material from Remains. It’s romantic, the song showcases great dynamics and interaction between real instruments (the synths are only there to add intonated fuzz), and the overall feel has the story-by-the-fire-side warmth to it that permeates their best work.

By the next track, it’s clear to me that I’m going to remember this album for times to come. While on previous releases BM kept all bases covered by having songs that fit into established caricatures of subgenres (goth rock song, synthpop song, death rock song), on The Quiet it’s clear that they’ve kept all bases covered by having songs of varying tone and meaning. This is a far more respectable and mature approach to song writing, and it serves for something more interesting to listen to. "First Light" is as fickle as it is decisive. The drum programming really shines, and I love the way it complements the quirky synth perfectly: the beat is constant to the point of redundancy, and layered over it are these synth lines that never seem to settle on a phrase for too long. It’s a sonic contradiction that fits together like puzzle pieces. Then crunchy guitars add a sort of polish and ‘swing’ to the song. It swings like a solid jazz standard, but instead of being fluid and human, we have something that operates in quick thrusts and sudden jerks. I wonder whether they planned the song to come out this way, or whether some wandered by mistake and the song found them.

The title track is next up, and with the exception of ‘living dead’, is the first of a long string of gothic dirges that are bound to perk up your day! It opens with ambience, and a funereal bass thump every measure. There’s some really pretty mandolin-like guitar strumming in the back ground, and in the foreground Andy paints, in delightful Bella Morte fashion, a tale of Love and Loss:

And this silence is her life,
Falling back into the dark November sky,
Over voices she shall cry,
Soundless screams are felt before the sun can rise.
Hear a voice as strong as stale,
Speaking long dead names to keep the evening still
In her heart rests all the time
Trapped for now in faith that death is still a lie.

Armed to shred up all the atmosphere created by The Quiet is the death rock’n Living Dead. The lyrics are camp and the music is hard. Some of the guitar phrasing behind the vocals sounds really ‘metal.’

It’s the way they’re arpegiated, I’ve realized, and it sounds strikingly similar to ‘Number of the beast’ era Maiden. It’s also got a Maiden-esque upbeat vibe to it, minus the dramatic vocals. It’s a tune that’ll definitely appeal to those of you into harder death rock, like fans of 45Grave. Feeding off the energy created by "Living Dead" is "Echoes", which has one of the most well crafted choruses on the album. It’s a fast paced synth number with some guitar bite to it: there’s actually shredding going on behind everything. It’s like the bastard child of new wave and shred metal; it’s cross genre 80s nostalgia – if there is such a thing! Well, there is now, and I’d like to hear more.

The next song is yet another ballad, and it stands out as the most depressing track on the album. This is as dirge like as they come. It also shows off Andy’s crooning and vocal talents. The guitars start off as smooth and Cure-like until the end, where it beings to writhe and scrape against its surroundings with its really rough, distortion edges. The song is called "Hope Again", and its my suspicion that Bella Morte was commissioned by Prozac to produce it, in hopes to get more people prescribed. They seem to have succeeded, as Andy bellows at the end:

And his words are the rain,
Which fall into my life,
Through the years as tears are left behind.
To the end of time, we’re holding on to faith,
This day will carry on,
No matter what shall come.
‘I want to feel’.

Speaking of interesting mixes, "I Follow" sounds like two parts vintage Bella Morte mixed with one part Run DMC! It’s easily my favorite track on the album, as it has the most infectious drum loop out all thirteen tracks. There’s this great groove established by drums, bass and guitar that makes way for a distorted industrial part every now and then. Also, while the song is the most experimental, it happens to have the most memorable break on the entire album! A little more than three minutes into it everything goes silent save for the guitar and a few electronics. Then it all EXPLODES: Loud synth, huge drums, colossal electronics and the best vocal line in the whole album:

Watch the gray
Die away
While the world is standing still
I reach for memories of Hope
See our fate leave just faith
To last the bitter day
Into such deadened times ahead!

Always is the last ballad on the disc, and it’s somber but also 80s. It’s lavender, and hot pink. It’s Eeyore in legwarmers. The lyrics and vocals really propel the song:

Careless words were spent,
Careless songs once help you near,
Have I always known,
This would be our end?
Snow obscures the Earth,
Just as time obscures the past.
Details fade away,
Visions fill the sky with ash.

Next up is the punk rocker, "Christina"! It’s got roots in the bouncy Angelic Upstarts/Cockney Rejects side of things with lyrics about seizing the day and living life moment to moment. It’s really pogo worthy, and requires much bouncing to fully appreciate it. When I listen to it, I have to make an effort not to punch a wall! It’s lively pothick gunk, and it deserves to be on play lists on College radio across America. This is spring time/dressing up music. It’s good to listen to while putting your hair up. The lyrics are a real treat, as they’re one of the few stories on the album that are clear enough to understand on the first listen. It’s a great light-hearted romp that will energize the weariest of hearts.

The next two songs compliment each other: Ember is much like the Xymox-y stuff on Remains/Where Shadows Lie with an updated, harder edge to it. There’s not much to explain, really. The thirteenth track is called "Wires", and it’s an orchestrated symphony of sampled sounds that all bear relevance to death. It’s really morbid, but romantic at the same time. It really sums up what Beautiful Death is all about, and I couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to end the album.

My eyes are sunken; My skin is cold.

Tracks:
Regret
Logic
Whispers
First Light
The Quiet
Living Dead
Echoes
Hope Again
I Follow
Always
Christina
Ember
Wires

Bella Morte is
Andy Deane – Vocals + Programming
Gopal Metro – Bass + Programming
Bn Withlow – Guitar
Tony Lechmanski – Guitar

www.bellamorte.com
www.mp3.com/bellamorte
Metropolis Records:  http://www.metropolis-records.com/

Wow, listening to this brings back memories of the first time I saw Bella Morte live. I was 18, sick of girls, sick of parents, and really sick of being told what to do by everyone. To make it to the show, I trekked all the way from Cambridge to New York by way of the super shady Chinatown bus circuit... little knowing that the Bella Bois would unveil what was to take its place along side Kommunity FK’s Close One Sad Eye as the soundtrack of my angst for times to come. Their set consisted mostly of death rock tracks, much to the entertainment of the mohawk-ed legions up front. The band was energetic and people began to mosh (where else can you see goths mosh besides a Morte show?).

I had a crackily mp3 bootleg then, and though the bit rate could have been better, listening to it succeeded in conjuring up fuzzy memories of Andy’s Bollywood-meets-Return of the Living Dead onstage "movements." You see, the first time this was released it was vinyl only. It’s taken them a while, but what I have in my disc player today is their CD reissue complete with two killer bonus tracks! I loved it then and I love it now, I urge you to all get your paws on it ASAP. It’s not to be missed and for those of you unconvinced, here’s the rest of my review:

"Demons" starts off the album with these really 70s guitars: each chord drenches everything in Sabbath-esque sludge that exudes the type of warmth only possible through analogue recording. I really caught myself doing double checks because the only thing missing here is Geezer’s tubby bass! About twenty seconds into it Andy’s voice pierces the gooey guitars with this vocal melody that seems lifted straight out of the violin passages of Nosferatu:

In their eyes we see the dawn fall to the day
Whispered fears cast light against the
gathered grey
In their minds our time is lost and ever still
They will see where horror lies.

In contrast, the next song on the EP deals with much graver subject matter. Between 1923 and 1954 there was a legendary cult magazine called Weird Tales which was known for publishing all sorts of deliciously lurid short stories. Among those was a political anti-war ghost story, in which the ghost of the Unknown Soldier haunts two Senators, who had been arguing about starting a war to protect American ‘interests’! It was Henry Kuttner’s "We Are The Dead", and it remains my favorite ghost story of all time. Bella Morte’s song, "The Dead", touches on similar themes: The dead have come back to reclaim what was taken from them.

We stand We fight We move
Into the night
We are the death of legends
We stand so black in grief
Of what has passed
We owe the world no debt

Living ends with shattered bones
across the cemetery roam
into the grey-lit twilight
and from the soil another cries
to pierce the dark against the lies
and never see them falter

"The Fallen" is up next, and with it’s classic B movie sound byte (I won’t reveal anything!) it remains the most Misfits-y song on the disc. It’s bouncy and really wears the bands Southern roots on its sleeve: Andy really sings in drawl, y’all! If Leatherface were in a punk rock band I’d fancy it would sound like this. It has the type of Zombiefied lyrics ("We wander from the grave", "all I see is hunger" "The end is drawing near, the light of day wont save you now") and frequent "woah-oh-ohs" that Danzig would be proud of. It’s a fun track, but as fun as it is there really isn’t much to write about it. It’s great fun live.

Now the next track is an epic -often melodramatic- tale of love, betrayal and retribution. Yes folks, this is just like Bollywood. Infact, if Bella Morte ever hold a make-your-own-video contest let it be known that it was my idea to turn this into a tacky/grandiose spectacle of dancing Zombie bois and choreographed ghoulish girls (wearing form fitting midriff shirts – in true South Asian style)! I thought of it, I’m entitled to it. "The Fallen" was Southern in delivery and "The Coffin don’t want me and She don’t either" takes this one step further. This is Southern in content. The vocals are accented, the syntax is a ‘lil off ("Though I’ve been dead but three weeks") and the song is about killing your ex-lover! Ok, so maybe killing your ex-lover isn’t distinctly Southern (even I have a dead hooker in my trunk!), but the rest of it is.

This song stands as one of the few new songs that are both pure camp and also inventive at the same time. Some groups like The Serpenteens and Mr. Monster may be fun, but they never really write anything that we haven’t heard the Misfits do before. It’s bands like Zombina and The Skeletones along with Bella Morte that know how to take a classic formula and make it their own. They’re smart and know how to keep the spirit alive and not get over obsessed with the icons. Isn’t that what punk was about? It’s about time the whole scene took the hint and matured into something respectable.

Ah, time for the bonus tracks. "Eyes of the Ghost" begins with this infectious, sugary guitar melody that makes way for this bass and drum gallop that reminds me of the kings of galloping rhythms: Iron Maiden! I’m seeing a pattern in all of their new Death Rock styled music... It all reminds me of Maiden. I’m pretty sure Dickenson roadied for the Clash, which would explain the punkish element in I.M’s early material – so here’s my request to the band: I love the music you’re writing now, but don’t you think it’s about time you went ahead and just covered an Iron Maiden song? Both bands have dramatic vocals, camp lyrics, talented guitar players and galloping rhythms. Any shmuck can tell you Bella Morte takes cues from Xymox on their material off Where Shadows Lie, and I’d venture to say they take just as many from Maiden during their punk moments. "Eyes of the Ghost" is a wonderful tune, with a great guitar hook and touching lyrics. It stands up there with "The Dead" as the best songs on this EP in my opinion.

The next song is somewhat of a three chord punk song with some really stunning trimmings. It’s called "A Light In The Window" and opens up with these really pretty guitar harmonics. There’s some foreshadowing going on here as midway through the song the guitar drops out and leaves the bass as the only sonic anchor for song’s chord changes. Then the guitar sweeps back in to sprinkle more chirping harmonics over everything. The lyrics are also lush, and more akin to the morose style that appears on The Quiet. The concluding passage is especially powerful:

An ending falls,
so quiet now,
The words we spoke cannot be found.
The moments lost,
Still carry on,
In unseen worlds before the dawn!
And children say,
‘That through the night,
That one can see a ghostly light’!

This is "just a punk song" like ‘We Are The Dead’ was "just a ghost story." This is something much richer. This is a story that uses punk as a medium to weave a captivating and impressive yarn. Making art that can stand on its own when viewed from multiple angles (lyrical wealth, musical value) is something that the boys in Bella Morte have done since their Remains release. Listening to the Death Rock EP, I’ve witnessed Bella Morte expand upon what they were able to do before by including songs that were political ("The Dead") and bombastic ("The Coffin..."). This is a release well worthy of purchase and I strongly advise all of you to see them play these songs live. It’s really wonderful.

The Death Rock E.P Tracks:
Demons
The Dead
The Fallen
The Coffin don’t want me and She don’t either
Eyes of a Ghost
A Light In The Window

Bella Morte is
Andy Deane – Vocals + Programming
Gopal Metro – Bass + Programming
Bn Withlow – Guitar
Tony Lechmanski – Guitar

www.bellamorte.com
www.mp3.com/bellamorte

BEYOND FLESH
BIRTHED
~reviewed by Mick Mercer

P Emerson Williams is someone you may know from Veil Of Thorns, who fitted into the experimental Goth paddock a while back, or if your head demands darker spew clotting your hair, then maybe Choronzon is his forte, as you can discover elsewhere. (i.e. tomorrow, right here.) Somewhere in between this album has happened, and it’s quite odd.

The man himself says that Goths aren’t so open-minded these days, and when so many get by with a happy reliance on club-related pretties maybe he has a point. He has drifted closer to both Country (where stories take prominence) or Black Metal where some individuals do test the limits of sound, but just as many sad bastards wank in a futile fashion over satanic fantasies. And then there is Beyond Flesh.

Call me old fashioned but this is dance, and this is cute. Admittedly the first twenty seconds made me think of nothing less than Noggin The Nog which will make no sense to anyone under the age of 35, or outside the UK, but that’s your problem. Just think - and here’s a weird coincidence - of a small cartoon character, supposedly beset by dragons, and based on Norse myth. Then forget that, and think of a latterday sister sound to traditional Roky Erikson, or Alien Sex Fiend covering ‘Firestarter’. That is in the wilder moments, but when it cools down and the generators stop humming, you have a trip hop Bauhaus at plays with some vocal Rozzisms undeniably peaking through the dope-stained curtains.

At times it’s a pureed Stereo MCs, at others it’s aborigines from outer space, all done in a muffled, welcoming dance stance. Sometimes it gets irate, and goes for Squarepusher-style bleepisms, but these are no copies, just his beautifully hypnotic templates of what is, to a large extent, the common currency worldwide, which makes it all but instantly accessible, if not necessarily that demanding.

P. Emerson Williams once said, “I’ll not be satisfied completely until I manage to tear time and space into ribbons and unhinge the minds of humans” but then Pop Idol came along and no-one gives a fuck anymore.

That’s what living in Florida does for you. Softens you up. Makes you relaxed. Creates an album that is – gasp wildly – inoffensive!!!

STARRY SKIES
FALLING TO EARTH
RAINING DOWN
BLEEDING ACID CASUALTY
ENSHROUD
SANCTIFY
FAITH
SOULS
IN YOUR GOODNESS
BIRTHED
WE ARE

And don’t forget, that the man is also a talented artist so when you investigate the website there’s plenty to impress.

http://www.choronzon.tk is not the url, despite the fact P sent it himself, it’s http://foaminbone.bizhosting.com/ or at least for the time being. And why not see http://artists.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/beyond_Flesh/

For more Noggin The Nog info (which is highly recommended):
http://www.smallfilms.co.uk/noggin/
http://www.nogginthenog.co.uk/
http://www.jy-muggeridge.freeserve.co.uk/noggin.htm
http://www.dragonsfriendly.btinternet.co.uk/noggin/noggin.htm
http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/tv/children/noggin/noggin.htm
http://www.blackstar.co.uk/video/item/7000000009284

Caustic Soul
Parliament of Rooks
~reviewed by Mike Ventarola

Caustic Soul first came to my attention when promoter Jett Black had them send a demo of their CD, “Torrent” for review.  After one listen, it was hard not to feel as though one were witnessing one of the greats of Goth on its burgeoning journey to underground notoriety.

Fate has a strange way of creating transitions. Initially, all 3 members had been friends while working in other bands.  Mike was in a metal band, Judas was in a grunge band and Dave was in a punk band. The three of them had talked for 5 or 6 years prior about forming together, but it just didn’t seem to come to fruition. The major catalyst came when Judas' girlfriend at the time, friend to all 3 men, was murdered by her neighbor. Judas and Mike consoled each other through their grief. A few weeks following the incident, they were sitting around and Mike turned on a 4-track and told Judas to just start playing whatever he felt like as a means of working through the grief.
What came out was "Nocturne" whose original recording is now on "Torrent," becoming a loving tribute to a woman who had greatly touched their lives..  The band hasn't played that song since.  The trio then found that the groups that they had been involved with had disbanded but the trio still remained tight friends. From their joined tragedy, the band became an entity that fated Summer of 1998 in Casper, Wyoming, collectively forming to create the dream of a gothic industrial band.

The original name for the group was "Cease To Exist" but later replaced with Caustic Soul.  Mike explained, “I feel Caustic Soul states more clearly what we are. Caustic- like a chemical burn in the center of your being.  It's like that pit in your stomach when you long for something out of your reach.” With a new band, new sound and new image, they left the confines and restrictions of Wyoming and headed for Colorado.

Not long after the move, the Littleton, Colorado tragedy made headline news, creating quite a surge of unrest that was proportionately getting out of hand for anyone involved with goth. From yet another tragedy, 40 like-minded people decided to start a non-profit organization called CDAC (Colorado Dark Arts Collective). Mike was in charge of getting the musician’s to perform and did an all-day festival of bands, artists, DJ’s and Fashion Show’s that were local to the Colorado area.  The event pulled over 700 people while also capturing the media’s attention. The population at large saw the art form related to the scene, which in turn helped to squelch some of the misguided interpretations and initial scene backlash.

On “Parliament of Rooks” the band forged ahead with songs that are like mini-vignettes, crafting short stories set to goth-industrial tones while also adding layers of keyboard work to sound as though a full orchestra is also playing alongside them.

“Harlot Sky” provides dark tones and mechanized clanks to seem as though we are immobile in some forgotten corridor. We are left to look in at the nocturnal activities of an erotically surreal dream between lovers.

“Trine” opens with sound bites from a nefarious character. The track itself was inspired by the most powerful lightening magic from the game Final Fantasy. Here, the song delves into the essence of being electrocuted, poetically written and layered to depict torment without coming right out and stating what it is all about.

“Eryx” is based upon the mythological tale of Eryx who fell fatally in love with the siren of the sea. You may have heard this track making the rounds in the clubs because of its infectious hybrid style that makes it conducive for a night of dancing. In spite of its mythological pathos, lyrically it brings about the love-lost frailty of man.

“Separation” has lyrics which point more to jealousy of watching another man kiss the beloved. On the band webpage, it is simply stated that this is how Mike and his wife met. There’s a question to ask about with their next interview!

“Sick” was depicted as “a  psycho stalker kind of song.” The lyrics read as though on some stream of consciousness from an obsessive-compulsive who is simply about to explode. The opening intro provides a malevolent recitation of the lyrics before the metal kicks it four to the floor.

“Dead Doll” this song was initially based on a true story about a woman the musicians knew at one time, if memory serves me correctly. In any event, it is a harsh  tale which depicts an abusive relationship. The victim's rage turns the tables on the abuser and  becomes a tool of revenge.

“Aurora” weaves a tale of survival that expands beyond just the physical realm. The track itself is delivered as though the musical score to the opening or closing credits for a major motion picture release. This track would have been right at home in any of The Crow soundtracks.

“Scarborough Fair” took a classic song and placed it into a dark, hypnotic chasm. Forlorn medieval sentiments waft across a dark and overcast terrain.

“Goodnight” reworks the story of love and death. Here one gets the impression that this is the song that the lovelorn sing to the one who has since passed from the physical realm. Understanding the history of this band makes the tract even more poignant and bittersweet.

Caustic Soul managed to craft songs that are seductively and poetically dark . Mike Atchley’s vocals simply exude the deep resonance necessary to make a song work in this genre. The combination of goth moroseness and industrial tones, mixed with Judas’ orchestral layers of keyboard tones and David’s episodic sound bites and effects, weaves an unusual listening experience that takes us through many elements of emotion. This is enhanced by the poetic story telling of the lyrics which are carefully crafted to jog subconscious feelings as opposed to being a typical narration that explains it all out for you.

Tracks:
1. Harlot Sky
2. Trine
3. Eryx
4. Separation
5. Sick
6. Dead Doll
7. Aurora
8. Scarborough Fair
9. Goodnight

Band Line-Up
Mike Atchley: vocals, drums, and guitar
Judas Neiman: keyboards, drums and effects
David Spethman: bass, effects

Website:  www.causticsoul.com
Sound samples also at: www.mp3.com/causticsoul
Email: mike@causticsoul.com
 

CHORONZON
MAGOG AGOG
~reviewed by Mick Mercer

Beyond laughing at Mortis I admit to having little experience with anything emanating from Black Metal’s cauldron. Clearly, P. Emerson Williams’ work here is suitably dark and dense to fit in with that scene and I remain sceptical, wearing surgical gloves to even unwrap the CD. (That bit was a lie.) He told me it wouldn't be my thing, and he was right.

Initially I was quite interested, after the usual pointless intro track, because ‘Love. Strength; Lies’ has linear drums and dipping, frisky guitar all set on a forward motion, so it reminded me of UK Decay, minus vocals. Then the singing starts, in the form of screeching friction, and this is more Thrash Metal, from before Death Metal grew up to be strong, before Black Metal started to explore extremes. It seems like a weird mixture between old and new, and at the end there’s a guitar (out)break which appears strangely directionless. It gives a picture of something that isn’t natural in this environment, even though it seems to work.

‘Under The Leaves’ is another piece of fluff, which always bemuses me. (Why do bands stick these tiny trifles on?) Then, with something approaching a title track, they go quite bonkers. The guitar gallops briskly alongside the heartbeat drums and vocals slip in happily capable of great speed. It’s all fairly meaningless to me, as most breakneck metal is, but it’s jolly, almost, like a barbequed Creaming Jesus.

‘Crimson Awakening’ is just weird. The guitar is brimming with vitality in what is holistic rawk, and it’s a shame about the pauses, which blows the tension, and at ten minutes long the first and second halves could have been turned into better songs on their own. ‘Demon’ has some good bounce to it, revealing more flair with its slower speed, after the hammering intro and rasping vocals struck me as somewhat identikit. Similarly, ‘333’, liposuction of the Beast, ends colourfully but is standard splatter and riff manoeuvring.

Finally, the immense ending, ‘Choronzon’, which lasts twelve minutes and although more ravaged than ravishing, contains great elegance and intriguing ideas between bouts of grizzled frenzy, which sums this album up for me. It’s moodier than anticipated, where I expected it to become all-enveloping. I assumed I was to be locked into an alien world, feeling trapped in an observational role. Not so.

BM fans will doubtless be taken by its lean cuisine. I can’t say I was thrilled or horrified much either way, but panning for gold in a sewer isn’t my idea of fun.

INTRO: DUST
LOVE. STRANGTH; LIES
PERDURABO (MAGOG AGOG)
UNDER THE LEAVES
CRIMSON AWAKENING
DEMON
VOID
333
CHORONZON

http://foaminbone.bizhosting.com/
 

DARK HORIZON
ANGEL (etc)
~reviewed by Mick Mercer

I am grateful to the band for their basic but sleek promo pack, with the debut CD, because here is a trio with a knack for pleasing brevity and just a hint of power. They claim there are Goth, Electronic and Metal influences at work but it’s mainly a light Gothic feel that comes through, and some sensitive vocals, which really does add up to a compelling sound.

‘Angel’ shows Michael Clayton, who handles bass and vocals, singing in a sonorous manner, as Andrew Meadows (guitar) and Stuart Meadows (keybds/prog) show good rhythmical touches and dexterity. It’s the song which comes through proudly, the vocals and guitars quite fleeting in the overall sweeping sound.

They claim that the third track, ‘Drifting’ which features a slow spell, based on a slow swell; layers added gradually, in increasing weight, is moving towards filmic. I think it’s a pleasant fraction of what could have been a much larger sound, and the filmic quality is already exhibited in track 2, because ‘Into The Lake’ brings an interesting diversion into play, for Michael has a different vocal style compared to ‘Angel’, with attractively ambivalent lyrics creating visual suggestion. They manage a strikingly pretty sound here, with almost guarded opulence as if they didn’t want to go far, and that bellows Intriguing Potential to me. As the song builds, the stridency does nothing to disrupt the charm and only sharpens interest.

This CD is well worth getting because it could be the start of quite a collection. It’s up to them to keep the quality consistent now and develop their themes for a debut album.

http://www.darkhorizon.org.uk is a fairly basic website – no gigs planned as yet, sadly - and their history could be ten times the size, to show us what they’re into and why. The forum didn’t work for me, but they have a hefty gallery and a thirds of each song for download if you’re curious.

Single from them or www.resurrectionmusic.com

Dionysus
Sign Of Truth
~reviewed by Joel Steudler

I'm starting to think that I'm not the best guy to be reviewing straight-up 100% proof ultra pure powermetal anymore.  I mean, I've always had a soft spot for Helloween.  It's rare indeed when a good bouncy powermetal anthem doesn't lift my spirits.  But eventually, enough is enough.  After being exposed to five-hundred-and-seventy-five albums of pretty much the exact same music, I have lost my appetite for plain old by-the-numbers powermetal... and that, unfortunately, is exactly what Dionysus plays.  Sure, they do a good enough job of it.  It's nicely produced, well executed, and commercially appealing to fans of the genre, but there's not a single original idea to be found on the whole album.

It's difficult to review albums like 'Sign Of Truth', because it's all been said before.  I could practically copy and paste a review of a 20 year old Helloween or Gamma Ray record and swap the song names for those on 'Sign Of Truth' without causing an ounce of confusion to readers.  For that matter, I could copy a few paragraphs out of my reviews of last year's Hammerfall or Primal Fear releases and do the same.  If you've heard powermetal in any of its incarnations over the past couple decades, you've heard Dionysus, too.  Someone needs to build a time machine and send all these nostalgia slaves back to when the genre was fresh and interesting.

If I was in a particularly unforgiving mood, I would utterly dismiss this album based on the lack of artistic merit the band shows in rehashing an outdated and overplayed formula.  If that doesn't bother you, though, and you enjoy the classic powermetal sound, there's a good chance you'll like 'Sign Of Truth'.  Brothers In True Metal will delight as it deploys all the staples of the genre.  Warbly vocals, peppy guitarwork, and the usual powermetal flavored cheese fill up fifty-four minutes worth of CD.  Please forgive my lack of enthusiasm, but I've had about all I can take of this style of music in its unadulterated form.  Bands like Thy Majestie and Manticora have proven that powermetal isn't dead, and it is possible to breathe new life into a tired old warhorse.  If only more bands followed their lead.  The members of Dionysus are clearly talented musicians.  I hope someday they outgrow the hero-worship that led them to make yet another minute variation on Helloween et al.

Track List:
01.) Time Will Tell
02.) Sign Of Truth
03.) Bringer Of Salvation
04.) Pouring Rain
05.) Anthem (For The Children)
06.) Holy War
07.) Don't Forget
08.) Walk On Fire
09.) Never Wait
10.) Loaded Gun

Dionysus is:
Olaf Hayer: vocals
Johnny Öhlin: guitars
Nobby Noberg: Bass
Kaspar Dahlqvist: keyboards
Ronny Milianowicz: drums

Dionysus Official Website:
http://www.dionysus-metal.com

AFM records:
http://www.afm-records.de/

The End Records (US):
http://www.theendrecords.com
 

DESCENDANTS OF CAIN
BRIAH: OF MAN AND MAGICIAN
~reviewed by Mick Mercer

What sort of band describes itself thus: ‘to avoid preconceptions and the pigeonholing of a progressive, versatile and individual sound I won’t go into the band’s many and eclectic influences or speculate as to exactly which genres they fit’? Yep, they’re a Goth band, who can also appeal to the less dunderheaded rock audience as well, and from just one listen you can almost imagine the Alchemy trinkets in their house, and the Warhammer manuals lining the bookcases.

That’s perfectly okay, because we then know what we’re dealing with, but DOC have a few new tricks up their voluminous sleeves, which means the record starts impressing from track one, as they can use normal moods, often in a mild manner, but fleshing everything out delightfully to create harmonious moods. For any band to handle the rudimentary tools and create magic shows they have a real artistic flair. And a ludicrous vocalist.

In he lumbers, declaiming dramatically in a voice like Carl McCoy’s drunken uncle. Is he a Lord Of The Rings extra who never got the call? What the Hell is going on? Suddenly beauty is trampled beneath this uncouth interruption. Is this Iain, son of Vocalese, Lord of Darkweeing, or could it be Darryl, cousin of Pterodactyl, Earl of Suave - knights of The Long Coats, and Protectors Of The Lagers both?

Then it settles, and you soon become accustomed to this bizarrely unnatural voice. Normally slow, and gravely, it retains credibility and is, to my astonishment, within just a couple of tracks, wholly believable, and unlike McCoy you can understand what he’s saying, not that that makes sense. This is a voice of power, if not beauty, and it has real presence, but we must remember this is a primitive worldview, from an alternative universe. Perm any one fantasy novel of ten and take your pick of daft, dark lyrics.

But that’s the quality here. It’s patently absurd, but you buy into the mood and soon notice that his mental singing almost become poetic eulogies because of the subtle music, and when the plaintive riffing pops up it even adds gravitas, and all the time the exquisite moods build!

Ultimately that then turns out to be their undoing, because it seriously lapses two thirds of the way through by not having any brisk urgency about the music, and you do want some variety, but then with three people creating some epic tracks it’s a question of balance. You cannot help but be impressed, and it’s only natural to want to see further expansion. I got bored simply because this isn’t my preferred form of gloom and ponderous majesty. They never once do anything exciting, which doesn’t seem to be their intention, and while I certainly marvelled at the majestic progress I rarely get off on that approach. People who do are going to be in heaven.

I loved the way the tracks blend together, and even sullen moods could still sparkle with just a touch of keyboards, and in ‘The Bearer’ you have a track with a quite extraordinary delivery. It’s worth buying just for that. While there are worrying similarities to Eurorock power ballads initially, it eases out of its hairy cardigan into something spectacular, yet solemn, easily as good as anything off Kate Bush’s ‘Hounds Of Love’ which isn’t quite as senseless as a comparison as you might expect.

And they do fuck up at times, there’s no denying. The music saves ‘The Fallen Kingdom’ from some surprisingly drab singing, which is another sign of quality, because they still individual flair and can each compensate for the others’ misfortunes, and the ridiculously titled ‘The Enterer’ sounds hideous in the beginning. You’d think someone had woken Oliver Reed from a drunken stupor. I also laughed in ‘The Dreaming’ when extending the notes almost revealed the real voice straining inside the affected, chosen style.

It ends well after this sticky period, with ‘The Invocation’ threatening to explode into action, even though it eventually stayed where it was – I enjoyed the suspense! - and ‘The License To Depart’ which, while murky, murderous muck musically, with some lazy vocals that took time to get going, ends strangely aerated, with weirdly attractive, groaning passages segueing into a bewildering wilderness.

It would be a poor fool who didn’t want to investigate this further.

SOLILOQUY
SCALING THE GATES
WAR OF THE AGES
THE BEARER
THE FALLEN KINGDOM
THE CEREMONY
THE ENTERER (what?!!)
THE DREAMING
THE INVOCATION
THE LICENSE TO DEPART

http://www.descendantsofcain.co.uk
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Descendantsofcain/
 

Dark Sanctuary
Vie Ephemere
~reviewed by Jezebel

Okey dokey. Got a CD. No material with it. Now I don’t lose things generally, so I am thinking that nothing paper-wise was sent to me. I am not going to work too hard for this review, if you can’t even bother to send me a couple of lines of who you are, what I may be walking into with my ever so eager ears.

Good thing my ears are eager and that I didn’t decide to just chuck the CD in the bin. Firstly – I am thinking that Dark Sanctuary is not the smartest name for this band as isn’t there some kind of association in Europe with the same title??? Just for the confusion factor alone, I am thinking a change of band name may be in order.

But the music. I can only give the briefest of reviews, as there is only two songs on this CD. Thankfully….both are GORGEOUS!. If you like, let alone love, female ethereal music, get a CD of these people. The voice of the lead singer (name unknown since no information was provided), is a cross and combination of Lydia from The Shroud and Regeanna Morris from The Changelings both of whom are favourites of mine. The music is atmospheric and sexy…and well worth a listen. It has a touch of film soundtrack quality to it which is something that could be an avenue for the band.

I wish that I could sit here and write volumes about this band. But giving me just two tracks was a damn tease and I am a bit perturbed. I WANT to write one of my rambling and in-depth, song by song reviews…..but when you have two, it ain’t easy or really necessary. I can say the following:

1) The voice of the lead singer in angelic and quite a talented on
2) The music is gorgeously produced and although these two offerings didn’t absolutely show something uniquely different from other bands within the genre, it did show the promise of doing such.
3) Get some of their stuff and explore

I hope the band will send me their new release for review…something I can really sink my teeth into….and enjoy over a bottle of wine.

Track Listing:
1) Vie Ephemere
2) Seul, face au sinistre

Website: http://www.dark-sanctuary.com
 

Ed Hale and the Transcendence
Rise and Shine
~reviewed by Jezebel

I have about eighteen versions of how to start this review in my head and all of them are right and all of them are wrong. This was/is such a promising album. This is/isn’t such a promising group of musicians. And to be honest, I still don’t know if I like it or I don’t.

Because this isn’t one album, this isn’t one band and that in and of itself is its most redeeming feature and its most condemning. Each song on this album is, within its own musical genre, an excellent offering, but putting it together as a whole just doesn’t work for me. If there is an identity to this band, it is not evident on this album.

The first song, "Better Luck Next Time," got me a bit excited. The influences of Bowie were unmistakable and with a dash of Coldplay (although Coldplay had not really been in the States at the time of this recording) and Radiohead, I was impressed with the quality of music, voice and production. Yahooooo, I said to myself! (you get a lot of crap CDs when you do reviews.)

The next song opened, that being "Do You Know Who You Are", and once again I was excited. They continued with the Bowie influence, a bit of Pulp and even a bit of U2 and Beatles. Excellente! A great new band! Again, lyrically and vocally, strong and although a bit too much Bowie like in performance, excellent sound and quality. The production is tight and the band sounds distinctive and far above the quality of most of the bands of late. Especially for a debut album for a band. These guys are obviously experienced and talented.

We are taken to Paris for the next song and I must say this seemed to be the first crack in the beauty. The little “movie-like” bit of dialogue of a French sounding lady and gentleman was a bit much but I dismissed it as a bit of folly on the part of the band. And the song began with much hope, a slow build up to a crash of guitars and bass, and again, sounding lovely, strong and the influences of The Cure, Pulp, etc were obvious. The song moved along at a quick pace and is one of those songs that you don’t realize is 6 minutes long. Which in and of itself is a feat. I can see this as a single release that could definitely make a splash in the mainstream market. The interesting break with the piano and strings is a great mix-up and surprise. But wait….one second….what is that? What is that “oh we are going to play our Middle Eastern music now?” bit that to be honest wasn’t even that good. The rhythm was off (a production problem?)…it comes out of nowhere and is the way the song ends….kind of like a tag on that just ruins the purity of what was there in the first place. Just a bit “Hey we listen to Middle Eastern – hear?” for me.

The fifth track was 38 seconds of  music which was supposed to be just “incidental music.” This confused me as I never feel there is a need for such little blips of sound on an album….but that may just be me. I always wonder if that was a song that just died in its infancy but since they liked what those 38 seconds were, let’s just throw it on the album and give it a cool name?

We then get "Love is You" and this really where it all start to roll at a gradual but steady pace downhill. I don’t know how much Doobie Brothers and KC and the Sunshine Band this group of musicians have listened to – but can someone tell them that those bands are doing reunion tours, and are not really in the mainstream anymore. The sound is dated and just tells me that the bands stated and those of their like are part of Ed Hale et al’s record collection but not that they could take that, ingest and digest it and bring forth something influenced as opposed to a regurgitation of what has already come and gone.

"Mother" is next and we start with some lovely little production play of a child making cooing noises and what a I believe is either a monitor of a child’s (or someone’s) heartbeat. Then it just cuts out and the song starts instead of actually leading into the song and being integral to it. I have to say that the voice here is great and is where Bono and Bowie’s love child must be….the strength and power of Bono with just the slightest edge that is particular to Bowie. Great!!!! And after the last song, I am happy to hear this. This is the harder side of the band and yeah! They can rock. When they go full steam ahead as a full rock band, they have the power and strength of many of the mainstream bands today. It’s rich and multi-dimensional, giving so many different layers put together so well that it’s a really gorgeous piece of music. (Just take away that little bit of unnecessary old-fashioned radio sample at the end).

"The Journey" starts with yet another sample of a speech…perhaps from radio or an interview. But who the hell cares? This is when the album and the band, for me starts to lose so much of the identity that they have established in their first 7 songs when we start getting a bit dancey. The rock sound is still scratching out a bit of a life there, but this is OBVIOUSLY their attempt to do U2’s Pop. Taking on a different style of music (this one being dance) and going with it. It’s not bad, and this is where my problem lies. In and of itself (have I used that three times alread?), it’s not a bad song (and once again the production in impeccable) but it comes out of nowhere. And hello? “This is a wake-up call mother fuckers, we’re not going to take it anymore”? HELLO?? Where the heck does this anger just come popping up? It seems superfluous and really just wrong in the song. Lyrics or not….it’s just OTT and you come away scratching your head wondering if your CD player jumped to another CD while you weren’t looking.

Back to our Incidental Music of 38 seconds which is more of a little monologue of someone losing someone else with a little bit of atmospheric sound underneath.

"Letter to a Friend" starts out with a ray of hope. The CD player must have jumped back to the correct CD player and you get that gorgeous Radiohead, Pulp, Coldplay sound again. There is that Bowie influence again and Bono and it has a certain jazz lilt to it. The drums are surely more jazz than rock to me. Gorgeous…more influences coming through in a way that shows the understanding and interpretation through understanding. Although overly inspired by the bands previously listed, there is something ever so slightly different and therefore, as they play this music, they are not copycats.

More incidental music! Sounding like a song of theirs on the radio. Whatever…this is getting annoying.

"Rise and Shine" starts with a bit of a Gregorian Chant (I think) and then it just goes Middle Eastern. For a bit, and then the song comes back in and you are sure that you are playing the right CD again. And this is an excellent song. In the vein of that which they have exhibited for the majority of their songs they do well, this song has all the elements of a great song…every element being clean crisp and done impeccably well, with production that serves the music. This is where perhaps they have incorporated the Middle Eastern influences well, with choruses of “Hare Krishna” and some little breaks in to Middle Eastern sounds which smoothly move and back and forth. I would rather it have been actually within the music as opposed to being broken into the song. But then what the hell is the bad rapping? Did Vanilla Ice come out of retirement? That bit and the “funky” ending was so unnecessary and took away from the excellence of the music.

"Ma Petit Naomi" takes us somewhere else. No…really. This is Latino influenced and nothing but. And this is where I start getting confused even more. Who is this band? What is this band? This is not a bad song, but does it belong on this album? "Tres Cool" is yet another confusion for me. Bad rapping (some white boys should not rap, it sounds like a bad white rapper…) which sounds more like the cruise director of a ship trying to entertain upper middle class passengers on their little dream holidays. Where this comes from and why is it here is a mystery to me.

More incidental music which continues to sort of mush ahead some story that we all have no idea about.

"So Quero um Xodo/All You Need is Love" is an interesting cover but doesn’t pull me in to anything that makes me start to stand up and notice like the earlier tracks where the influences were subtle and not thrown in your face.

"Dreams" is a perfect way to end the album as it is one of the best tracks on it. The music gives the atmosphere of what it should do – dreams. Energetic, yet serene, alive yet peaceful, the song trips and skips and tip toes….a perfect song for a chill out album in the bath.

But who is this band? I don’t think the band knows and they spend so much time trying to scream who their influences are by downright direct association that they cannot be more than an “influenced band.” Having just made that term up myself right now, let me explain it. There are bands out there that make a sound, create a sound and set a precedence in the scene (usually one, perhaps two). Then there are bands which, although excellent in what they do, are just not enough to break through being influences by the genre makers/leaders and will always be the bridesmaids at the altar. They will always be the “she has a nice face and a great personality” friend of the girl who every guy wants to have.

Saying and defining that and calling Ed Hale and the Transendence that is not a curse of any sort. I believe that this this
 

Ego Likeness
Dragonfly
~reviewed by Mike Ventarola

Ego Likeness began in 1999 as an industrial/ trip-hop project and is the combined efforts of D. Lynch and S. Archer. The year 2000 ushered in "Dragonfly," a release whose style delivered a lush electronic sound while maintaining the same dark feel of their earlier work. As a whole, the band explores diverse influences of music, from spoken word, instrumentals,  dance music and dark electronica. This outfit has gone from two performers to a band now boasting eight musicians playing real instruments. The group, similarly to their parent label Angelfall Studios, holds the ideal as “art without limits,” and lives up to this without affecting any pretensions.

Ego Likeness is not a band that can be classified and pigeonholed in any niche genre as they cover all terrains while maintaining a semblance of darkness similar to My Scarlet Life. They can be classified as a band who delivers quality music for the money, whether under the guise of Ego Likeness or their improvisational Trinity Project moniker.

“A Different Kind Of Loss” features  samples from the film "Dead Ringers" while adding pervasive electro tension beneath the dialogue.

“Hydra” features a Latin excerpt from "Sicut Cervus" (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina) interspersed with solid EBM and industrial sensibilities. Hearing this was akin to Hildegard Von Bingen backing smooth male vocals. This is the type of track one would want on repeat for quite a bit. It coalesces medieval beauty and grandeur with up to the minute dance rhythms, making it highly unique and enjoyable.

“Second Skin” fuses dark electronics with a surreal chasm, touching upon elements of Celtic and marching drum flavors. The percussive elements along with the electronic nuances color the background with precise effect. Lynch provides a forlorn yet seductive crooning whose essence could be compared to that of Collide.

"Drown Like You" has been showcased on the "Best of Gothic Radio Compilation," which is what first alerted me to this marvelous band. This song has “hit” written all over it from the opening refrain to the last. Archer delivers a swaggering seductiveness with the vocals that is brought out with the trip hop element. Lynch caresses the background like a velvet cloth against the skin. Lyrically, this is a rather sad sentiment, however the sensuous quality plays out like a memory of fonder times that have since soured.

“The Ocean Beside Us” begins as an introspective “piano” piece that gently erupts with an undertone of percussive elements. Lynch personifies an understated siren, embarking on a composite between ocean goddess and unrequited lover.

“The Map Is Not The Territory” was also featured on their Trinity Project release and was inspired upon a true story about a birthmark that looked like a map. The track itself is forlorn and morose. Archer delivers an understated tension about love lost.

“Song To The Divine” opens with a Middle Eastern vocalization, which immediately grabs the attention. Lynch’s vocal delivery is then unleashed to push the limits of supplication and emotive passion crafting a song that is destined for the club scene.

“Blind Arms” creates unique tones that are a hybrid of goth rock, EBM and Celtic all rolled into one that simply erupts in what could be the next big hit in the goth clubs. Archer and Lynch combine their talents on this track that rocks to the walls and coalesces with wonderful harmonic choruses.

“Too Many Empty Nests” layers a slow trip hop groove from the outset with simple electronic notes that fragment into musical icicles. Lynch’s delivery goes out on a vulnerable limb with the same fervor and emotive longing as Rhea’s Obsession in this ballad.

“I Live On What’s Left” is yet another heartbreaking trip hop ballad. Lynch’s vocal delivery has a precocious ingénue inflection. The track is that of one whose heart has been broken and damaged at an early age, never to be mended, and forced to look back bittersweetly on only the memories.

“Aurora” plumbs the murky depths of moroseness and heartbreak merely with instrumentals. Atmospherically, the band crafted a three dimensional emotional palette without needing to utter a single word.

“The Explanation At The Center Of It All” takes the band to the darkest reaches on this CD. The track is haunted with just the right touches of spooky elements. Lynch delivers yet another gentle ballad of love lost, only this time it is a fresh breakup sentiment where abject disgust and physical ramifications pervade the inner and outer world.

Ego Likeness managed to craft a brilliant piece of work with Dragonfly. It offers cuts for a club setting as well as for home listening. The remarkable aspect is that this was all created before they became an eight piece outfit, so one can only imagine the dynamic range and luminosity that they bring to the stage when they perform live. One can only hope they will re-record this work with the full band at some future time, as it would be a shame not to be able to hear it on such an expansive level.

Archer and Lynch deliver potent and expert lyrics wrapped around enchanting vocals that are tightly professional beyond compare. Listeners will not get the impression of merely artists who sing, but in fact artists who feel every nuance and word to the depths of their soul. Every song had its own mode of sentiment, gently tweaked by subtle inflections to explore the panoramic canvas of emotion. Do seek out this recording as it offers music that is timeless and emotionally intoxicating.

Tracks:
1. A Different Kind of Loss
2. Hydra
3. Second Skin
4. Drown Like You
5. The Ocean Beside Us
6. The Map Is Not The Territory
7. Song To The Divine
8. Blind Arms
9. Too Many Empty Nests
10. I Live On What’s Left
11. Aurora
12. The Explanation At The Center Of It All

Ego Likeness as a live band currently consists of:
S. Archer and D. Lynch (vocals, guitar, piano, bass, treatments, programming)
Justin "Dingo" Sabe (keyboards, treatments, ethnic percussion, brass)
Stephanie Kim (violin)
Daniel Mullin (guitar, percussion)
Jerome Lintz (live drums)
Amanda Mason (backing vocals, keyboards)
Jenny Mettee (bass, cello)

Website: www.egolikeness.com
Label: AngellFall Studios: www.angelfallstudios.com
 

ELUSIVE
DESTINATION ZERO
~reviewed by Mick Mercer

The thing about Rock, whether tied brusquely to Goth or not, is that the lyrics make me laugh, because they will so often shout dramatically about things you know are basically senseless. You can make them up yourself just as easily. If you discover that cup of coffee you made half an hour ago and then forgot, grasp it in horror, as you hoarsely exhale, “so dark (pause) so (extended whisper) cooooooooold!” Pausing in the kitchen near the sink you try it anyway, then bark, “shivers rip through me”, before tipping it away with a full-blooded roar. “Let it disperse!”

Elusive are three blokes, K Gundersen, Jan and T Olsson (formerly Theatre Of Tragedy) and they have it all worked out to a tee, coming on strong like The 69 Eyes without so much warmth, but highly adept at keeping the atmosphere crisp, and never getting bogged down with too many effects. What programming there is doesn’t interfere with the rhythm, which sounds like real drums throughout. The bass is sprightly, and the guitars well trimmed, with no bombastic flourishes. It’s all riffing in time with the beat, and the vocal get natural prominence. This is good, and with trios the energy always comes out easier that way anyway.

True, you do start noticing a few influences with the openers. ‘Last Night’ has severe ‘Vision Thing’ stylings, which is a common problem with the rockier bands, but they utilise spaces in the songs well, letting them breathe, and when the vocals are squeezed out in bursts it’s also a sign that no-one is dwelling on the mood, allowing the music to take flight, not fester. What could be dark rock quite easily, never opts for a sombre overview, but keeps you expectant, waiting for the next burst of pace, in songs which seem to be on the prowl. This means that they’re closer to Love Like Blood at times, with a more realistic rock sound, rather than contrived exercises. And by about four songs in you don’t even notice any influences. You’re hooked. (Plus ‘System Breakdown’ started in a heightened state as though it were ‘White Wedding’ and that’s not bad.)

‘Lonely Satellite’ best illustrates what I feel about this album, being a fairly quiet number, taken at a mid pace with smaller vocal input and lots of little dips. It’s actually a fairly crappy song by their standards and I found it exciting, because it was at odds with some of the other sounds, creating all important variety. They have their lively breaks, but they also do the moody romantic mush, without ever going into full-blown ballad bleating. ‘The Circle Never Ends’ has mushy lyrics, but sounds beautiful, and ‘Tomorrow Gone’ lives in the doldrums but still manages to clip along with surges of adrenaline-lite.

And there are laughs, for me, because in ‘Gemini’ he sings, “the fire takes my heart tonight” which makes no sense whatsoever, then sounds almost bedazzled as he squeaks, “the is the one, the one to come – Gemini!” I hooted with mirth. But that’s rock, you have to believe there’s something going on, and with the downbeat vocals, and double-guitar prong attack the crawling verses have real style. In the deeply addictive city mire that is ‘Pantheon’ we are even led to believe there is a fever in his room, and ‘Aslyum’ is equally good, being rhythm-led but guided by bass, across which stride wonderfully full lyrics that ring with conviction, whatever he’s on about.

He also knows passion, for in ‘Shadow Dance’ despair is “embracing my soul.” The important thing, dear boy, is that you believe that. And it isn’t just him that does, it’s all of them, as they charge off into the twilight, probably slumped in some pub even as we speak, convinced they’re fallen warriors!

Yep, this album is a year old but they sent it to me anyway and I’m glad that they did. Gothic Eye’s reviewer is quoted in the press release as wanting to give it ten and a half, “if I was allowed”, whereas I fear no such constraint, and give it eleven. This albums reeks of class, and is blessed not just with immaculate musicianship, which you’d probably expect, but also exceptionally magnetic vocals. If you can’t find a place in your collection for some rock you’ll play endlessly you’re a miserable twat.

LAST NIGHT
SYSTEM BREAKDOWN
THE CIRCLE NEVER ENDS
TOMORROW GONE
PANTHEON
LONELY SATELLITE
GEMINI
ASYLUM
SHADOW DANCE

http://www.elusive.no (nice site!)
http://www.pandaimonium.com

ESCAPADE
Rule #3
~reviewed by Kevin Filan

New York instrumental outfit Escapade calls their music "Avant Psych-Rock."  I don't see the "Avant." There is very little on this CD which you couldn't find on a 1970s release by King Crimson, or a late 60s release by Pink Floyd.   This isn't a bad thing at all.  We have far too many instrumental outfits who take their cues from the Grateful Dead, giving us meandering patchouli-soaked solos with all of Jerry Garcia's self-indulgence and little of his melodic or technical skill.  Escapade's sound has different influences --  Fripp, Barrett-era Floyd, Krautrock and modern jazz. The end result is tighter, more cohesive and far more satisfying.

Just because Carlos Santana, Miles Davis and John Coltrane were capable of mind-blowing 20-minute solos doesn't mean that everyone should try this at home.  Far too many long jams turn into "my instrument is my penis and I must expose it to the crowd" wank sessions.  Thankfully, Escapade avoids these pitfalls. A good part of the credit for this lies with leader Hadley Kahn, whose propulsive drumming keeps things from falling into the Slough of Should-Have-Been-an-Air-Guitar-Solo.  The 19-minute "Symphony of Sirens," and 12+ minutes of "Circumference" and "And Then All Silence Was Crushed" remain interesting, using their length to explore various permutations on a groove rather than in grinding said groove into the ground.

"Mysterious Utterances" features Hadley Kahn's Wright-esque synthesizer loops playing off Paul Casanova's Barrett-flavored guitar.  The music moves slow and cold as a glacier, with occasional spikes of dissonance piercing the calm.  They also show their debt to Pink Floyd with a cover of "Interstellar Overdrive," a free-form jam on a free-form jam with a two-pronged wah-wah powered attack guitar attack from Casanova and Paul Hilzinger and a driving drumbeat from Kahn.  Escapade's sound evokes the sprawl of psychedelic rock, combined with the discipline of jazz. The harmonic structures underpinning each song may be complex, but they are far from free form anything-goes chaos.

Drummer Hadley Kahn is the frontman and founder of Escapade, but frequently steps aside and lets the other members have the spotlight.  On "Eclipse in Carbon" he turns the stage over to John Ortega (processed piccolo bass) and dual guitars from Russell and Bob Giffen.  "Eclipse" begins slowly, with a dark ambient feel and keeps promising to build into a monster groove ala "Frankenstein."  While the tension keeps growing, the great jam never quite arrives before the track dissolves into the eerie marimba opening of "And Then All Silence Was Crushed."  At first I was disappointed; on a second listen, I realized that this lack of resolution made the track even more powerful and unsettling.

So what will the loyal readers of *Starvox* think of Escapade? It depends: Escapade is most definitely Not Goth.  On the other hand, they're also Not Phish, and you can listen to them without reaching for the bong or the hacky-sack.  If you enjoy listening to highly
skilled musicians working together, you will definitely like "Rule #3."  Those who remember listening to their older brother's prog-rock LPs (or those of us who *were* the older brother who owned prog-rock LPs... ) will also take great pleasure in these powerhouse riffs and excursions into inner space.  Until I heard this CD, I would have sworn that they don't make 'em like this anymore.

1) A Symphony of Sirens
2) Interstellar Overdrive
3) Mysterious Utterances
4) Circumference
5) Eclipse in Carbon
6) And Then All Silence Was Crushed

Escapade Homepage
http://www.motherwest.net/escapade

Eternal Gray
Kindless
~reviewed by Eric Rasmussen

The death metal genre is boundless in its ability to spread across the world and absorb influences from all over. Eternal Gray is the newest adaptation of death metal to come from Israel, and the band's debut is quite remarkable. Their influences include Morbid Angel, Cynic, and Death. While you can't hear a specific influence from any of those, it's clear that Eternal Gray has learned from their elders.

The vocals are traditionally growly in a partially blackened way - that is, the singer doesn't belch. But Kindless is most unique for the style of riffing used. The riffs are unmistakably death metal, though you'd be hard pressed to come up with another death metal band that bangs away on their guitars in quite the same manner. Many of the riffs are designed to grab hold of you by the neck, thrash you around a bit, slowly examine their handiwork on your physical well being, and finish things off with a spirited round of "slamming your head repeatedly into pavement."

The drumming that accompanies the guitars can be quite technical, but the main focus is on constant heavy double bass hits. Conditioning yourself to use your feet that way surely has some repercussions on performing normal everday activities, like walking. I'm working on developing some stereotypes of metal drummers here, and so far I decided previously that they must be savants, so narrowly focused on the task at hand that they can play many things at once but are unable to function like most people. Now I'm implying they walk funny, too.

There are points at which the double bass drumming and heavy riffing can get repetitive. There is plenty of variation in tempo, but the combination of heavy riffs and constant double bass can feel pretty minimalistic. Thankfully, Eternal Gray use occasional atmospheric keyboards or creepy lead guitars to give the listener additional direction. The background sounds are rather like platoons of venomous spiders that crawl out of nowhere without the slightest warning. Before you know it, your standard death metal is laced with an evil that makes the atmosphere even more foreboding and dense. The occasional leads or guitar solos won't put you at ease either, but their somewhat melodic approach adds welcome color to the sound.

The production job courtesy of Tommy Tagtgren is superb. Every instrument is clear and given a full and meaty consistency that blows away the heaviness attained by gore metal acts who think a garage production job is cooler. Sure, awful production is more extreme in the unlistenable sense, but that's about it.

Eternal Gray has given us one hell of a debut to mull over, and for the technical death metal genre this release ranks among the best I have heard. Their tendency to resort to blast beats and somewhat repetitive riffs doesn't mar the album in any severe way, but it does keep me from recommending this as an absolutely must-have CD. I feel that Eternal Gray have proven their worth in their chosen genre, and next time I'd like to see them expand their sound even further. Nevertheless, Kindless is an excellent death metal CD and metal fans everywhere owe it to themselves to check it out.

Track List:
1) Sins in the Process of Creation
2) Flesh Cycles
3) Absent Mourn
4) Inflicting Pain
5) War of Chaos
6) There Lays Nothing
7) The Unbelievers Die
8) Intro
9) World of Ice
10) Outro

Eternal Gray is:
Eyal Glottmann - lead and rhythm guitar, vocals
Dory Bar-Or - lead and rhythm guitars, bass, keyboards
Eran Asias - drums

Raven Music:
P.O. Box 212, Raanana 43101 Israel
ravenmusic@netvision.net.il

The End Records (US):
http://www.theendrecords.com/
 

Baby Fiend
3 song promo
~reviewed by Blu

This 3 song promo is the first offering from California scenster Baby Fiend and a teasing taste of the talent she has to offer. Quite extraordinarily, Sonya Fiend - the ambitious creator behind Baby Fiend - has managed to round up the talented Ray Mondo (Ritual/Death Cult/Sex Gang Children) as producer on this CD. Ray's influence shows in the strong, tribal drumming present in the very first track "Ties That Bind." Immediately this song, with its deathrock over tones and slithering, sexy tempo was a hit at clubs here and live, it was clearly the crowd favorite.  Sonya's voice is sultry and fiendish in the best kind of way as she hits the chorus singing "...you know you want to stay on your knees... on your knees..."  Surely comparisons with the likes of ghoulish divas like Diamanda Galas and Lydia Lunch are appropriate here.

"Rain Your Love" and "Isolation"  are more eletronic in nature with drum machines and synthesized melodies. There's a hint of New Wave 80's in the sound and a bit of Madonna-like sophistication in the vocals. Both are upbeat but "Isolation" is the one with more instant club appeal as a dance track.

Overall Baby Fiend offers up a diverse trio of songs here with smart, thought provoking lyrics and abundant heart. The musical arrangements are unique and daring and make it clear that she is not following any trend, but where her muses take her instead.

Tracks
1. Ties That Bind
2. Rain Your Love
3. Isolation

No website exists yet that I know of...
CD cover by Mark Splatter - http://www.deathrock.com
 

Larry Gaab
The Sacred and the Profane
~reviewed by Mike Ventarola

Sacred and the Profane lives up to its title as artist Larry Gaab, (pronounced Gabe) created instrumental pieces that transcend time and space. One would be quick to label the work New Age or even ethereal, however the tracks are more than that. They are moody atmospherics that bend, reflect and take on a life of their own with some unknown force.

“Instinct” shimmers like a wall of quartz crystal in some nether world. Counterpoint notes tease and undulate, almost daring the listener to come along for a musical ride into the furthest reaches of their psyche. Despite having elements of spatial new age sounds, there are undercurrents of tension as though one is peering cautiously into the darkness before deciding on stepping fully over the threshold of exploration.

“Shadows” utilizes an array of gentle gongs and bells while the main sonic element seems to surface like steam from a cauldron. This is a gentle bubbling that similarly seems to release a fragrance all its own, calling one to venture closer. Upon closer inspection, it is as though one could see the future reflecting back in the dark waters.

“The Profane” shares a similarity with the preceding track, though the ornate sounds seem to fulminate and break free from the constrictions of that track. The notes simmer, rising and falling at the same time, with each musical cascade growing larger than the last, like a mighty wave.

“Furthest Fantasy” stretches sound to seem like it will veer into something bordering on nightmarish, essentially delivering a paradox of what one would commonly call a “fantasy.” Despite the darkened tones, there is much movement between the elements of tension and release throughout the track.

“All Things Equal” opens as though a calming wash from a warm stream. One is anxious to bask in the glow, particularly after being forced to cogitate some of the more tense filled elements that the preceding track evokes.

“Essential Illusions” once again gives rise to tension with touches of disparate sounds. The intention is to stretch the listener’s experience beyond what they know and think they know. It is also indicative of an essential need to break down barriers that steadfastly shackle the world of music by redefining elements and constructs of sounds that can be opposing, yet workable within the framework of sound.

“Universal Metaphor” took bits and pieces of sounds that give a fleeting feeling of being Eastern in nature. The intonation seems to coalesce and then refract against itself, thereby creating new boundaries and explorations.

The Sacred & The Profane is the type of work you would want to utilize for meditation or for background sound when there is a need to change the environment. The avant garde approach carefully blends into dark ambient, classical, cinematic and electronic genres to create a new frontier in how we hear music.

As opposed to music that one must have a steady beat to, this work seems to avoid most percussion, thereby allowing sound to seemingly take on hues of its own. One can become reflective or meditative with it, or simply choose to lay back in the dark and let the mind wander.

Like most avant garde work, it isn’t for everyone. However, there is an audience of listeners who revel in the fact that some artists are daring enough to stretch beyond the gloss of New Age, the chic of “darkwave/ethereal” or the anti-climatic cinematic scoring. Gaab took music and redefined its essence by forcing listeners to hear in color. It is as though the title suggests that the sacredness of the “gift” of hearing is profoundly challenged to stretch beyond the societal mores of accepted music.

Tracks
Instinct
Shadows
The Profane
Furthest Fantasy
All Things Equal
Essential Illusions
Universal Metaphor

Email: garbanzo@shocking.com
Available from Morphosis Music at www.shocking.com/~garbanzo

Larry Gaab
Peripheral Vision
~reviewed by Mike Ventarola

Peripheral Visions was created to give “sound” to what is commonly known as precognitive sensations. Despite many ethereal artists on the market, few have dared to choose a subject so broad in scope that would hope to convey the sensory perceptions of subliminal impressions which lead to some form of  psychic awareness. Larry Gaab embarked on just a journey for this April 2001 instrumental recording and he did so with great flare.

The Cd is best sampled in a darkened room with the lights off, which gives rise to many tonal colors, fabrics, dark atmosphere and spatial diversity.

“Peripheral Visions” is the opening track and CD title. It gently pulls us in on an almost funeral chasm that would elate dark music fans rather well. The track gently pulses and bends like a psychic vision while the funeral tones lead us into that dark corner that many fear to tread.

“Apposition of Opposites” rings like a crystal bell from the depths of a darkened well. One can almost feel the air around us expanding and contracting as one reaches the unseen realm.

“Unfocused Eyes” is what is often needed when reading aura’s. Gaab took that aspect and managed to give a sound to it. One can almost feel an aura emanation coming from the body of the sound as understated notes caress and weave around each other to create a full range image.

“Time Distortions” gently bubbles through the etheric world. One can almost see the rippling tide between now and tomorrow as though peering at a scrying mirror.

“Blind Planet” is dark and almost ominous. There is a symbiotically connected mélange of light and dark elements that coalesce, yet when one overtakes the other, there is an imbalance. Essentially we are hearing the life pangs of Mother Earth herself as she is trod upon and usurped.

“The Collapse of Reason” folds upon itself. It starts off with a sound that translates in disbelief and momentary shock. Once the initial jarring of the senses have equalized, it seems to float and cascade like an open channel between two worlds.

“Crepitation” slumbers like one is floating on a dark cloud in the nether reaches. Here, one can touch the stars, color sound and bend light.

“Subliminal Edifications” allows counter-point inflections to color the essence of “knowledge” before the conscious mind perceives the information.

“Fear Medieval” takes a peek at the darker side of the Middle Ages where reason gave way to fear. Psychic elements during those days were kept quiet for fear of persecution. This track takes us on that journey of foreknowledge at a time of great repression and social unrest due to political power struggles and religious wars.

Larry Gaab is to be highly commended for crafting an understated body of work that accomplished what it set out to do. Even for those without any psychic ability, it is evident that some of the sound and musical notes were carefully chosen for just the right emphasis for mood and atmosphere.

Unlike other ethereal works, one won’t hear angelic choirs or songs of lamentation. Instead, this is an instrumental work that challenges the listener to go deeper into their own personal introspection. Essentially it is music meant to evoke personal mental imagery. Its construction was made in such a way that these images can change with repeated listens as well.

There is most definitely a decided darkness to this work, though not in the sense that some erroneously assume about “dark” music. It is akin to finding oneself in the quiet recesses of a cathedral somewhere, sitting in a dark corner while communing with a higher power. Ultimately, this CD would make a great addition for those wanting to learn how to meditate but finding much on the market to airy and light, trapped in all the new age marketing that they are replete with.  It is also a great addition when you want music for an overcast day as a background accompaniment that is not too energetic or morose.

Tracks
1. Peripheral Visions
2. Apposition of Opposites
3. Unfocused Eyes
4. Time Distortions
5. Blind Planet
6. The Collapse of Reason
7. Crepitation
8. Subliminal Edifications
9. Fear Medieval

Email: garbanzo@shocking.com
Available from Morphosis Music at www.shocking.com/~garbanzo

God  Module
Perception (EP)
~reviewed by Mike Ventarola

My first brush with God Module came about from their inclusion on the phenomenal Resistor compilation released through Nilaihah Records in 2000. Their unreleased track “Resurrection” merely whetted the musical appetite because they brilliantly fused dark tones with pumping aggro-EBM that defied convention at the time.

Two years later, we can now find this gem of an EP available through Sector 9 Studios. It has 3 tracks with multiple remixes clearly earmarked for the divergent global tastes and club scenes around the globe. The band’s website indicates that this is the precursor to their full release entitled “Empath” due out early 2003.

“Perception” is the opening track and despite the rather forlorn lyrics, it simply sizzles with futuristic dance mechanisms that one would have to be totally hard bitten to ignore it.

Following the band’s version, we are then treated to Infekktion’s mix which takes the track down a few dark industrial notches. Culture Kultur follows with a mix that is a bit heavy on the high end synth element while weaving the compressed vocals further up front in an almost demonic way. The last mix is by Dismantled, which reached for an almost apocalyptic intro with cavernous winds through a barren wasteland, all while keeping the beats at an impressive rate.

“Transcend” flirts with a vocal sampling from the cult film “Liquid Sky.” We are encouraged to leap from our previous thought processes and unshackle ourselves from our own imposed prison. This track serves as a double entendre as we are encouraged to “dissolve into me” which could indicate religious transcendence or drug induced transgression, as Liquid Sky was the slang name for heroin at one time.

Parallel follows with their mix with an emphasis on deeper bass electronic beeps that cut like a razor and would simply work at the height of a club night with its pounding pulse beat. Cut.Rate.Box  follows with a mix that takes synth high notes and cuts it up with lower bass registers in what could be dubbed as Euro-dance EBM. This mix is decidedly more city club in tone and wouldn’t be alien in any number of trendy clubs.

“Interference” takes us down the parameter of seeking love that will not decay. It questions the reality of a world devoid of emotion, anesthetized and sanitized by modernism. The track delves into a darker industrial EBM tone. Here, the compressed vocals detract from the lyrics because discerning them is not as easy. Thankfully, the lyric sheet is enclosed because this track, like the other two, actually has something of merit to say.

L’ame Immortelle added their mix, taking the compressed lyrics to the front, pushed the music in the back and we are given the effect that was noticeably missing from the first outing above.

Stromkern’s version of this track opens with blips while the vocals are brought even more upfront with rather macabre tones winding in the background. A full electro effect is strutted out in a futuristic style that is a sensuous dance between light and shadow.

Grendel took the song into a more darkwave/goth forlorn element and thrust it into bass heavy beats. The vocals are reverbed  and brought to the front, delivering an eerie quality which makes this a track that teeters between despair and anger.
 

This reviewer is decidedly more preferential to old school goth rock, however God Module have demonstrated promise in the past, and this current release does not disappoint. Considering it is 3 songs but a total of 11 tracks with the various remixes, one cannot possibly become bored any time soon. Admittedly, this Cd has been on frequent replay on the stereo because it expands beyond being merely “electronic” music and forges lyrics of a potential future scenario as man becomes more like a machine and vice versa. God Module skillfully combines decent lyrics with aggressive rhythm and pounding beats that simply elevates it from the glut on the market today. Highly recommended.

Tracks:
1. Perception
2. Force Field Mix by Infekktion
3. Culture Kultur mix
4. Dismantled Mix
5. Transcend
6. Liquid Club Mix by Parallel
7. Cut.Rate.Box Mix
8. Interference
9. Floor Filler Mix by L’ame Immortelle
10. Constructor Mix by Stromkern
11. Collapsed Mix by Grendel

God Module is:
Jasyn Bangert
Andrew Ramirez
Female vocals: Courtney Titiger

Official Website: www.godmodule.net
Label Website:  www.sector9studios.com
Email: godmodule@sector9studios.com

Human Drama
Cause and Effect
~reviewed by Jezebel

Blu loves me. Blu loves me. Blu loves me.

There is no other explanation for her sending me the new Human Drama CD. Really. Since I have been crap about turning in reviews about anything except how rotten it is to be unemployed, the only explanation is that she knows and understands about my absolute adorement of Johnny Indovina and Human Drama. I bow to her.

And of course, I am so not disappointed. Johnny Indovina has always been a masterful song teller in his music just pouring out emotions that we all know is such a poetic and descriptive way that I always have wondered why the man has not been snatched up by a major label. And this time, we take a very personal and special journey with the man.

When Voltaire broke with his partner of many years, he sat down and wrote an album in Voltaire fashion using his wit and irony to express the pain and hurt flowing through his blood. Mr. Indovina didn’t take that path, but sat down and worked through each of the emotions from anger to hurt to denial to wonder weaving little vignettes within each of the 13 offerings.

We start out in a good rock and roll fashion with "I am Not Here" where it begins, Johnny Indoniva’s unequalled knack of mixing excellently produced and performed music with lyrics which we all relate to but don’t patronise. And this carries through the entire album – whichever track that you listen to, you find an emotion that unless you having been living in a glass bubble your entire life or have been lucky enough to find that one true love on first try, you completely relate to.

"Look at Me" is the sound of Human Drama that we know, gorgeous choruses that become almost chants when played live. You will walk away humming it to yourself and understanding why and how. (I was singing and humming the music after just one listen – it’s really that infectious).

"Quiet Desperation" is so damn sexy that I want to cry….It reminds me of Eric Clapton’s Sinner’s Prayer in the sweet sleaze of the music and the drag of the drums and the voice. The guitar comes up dangling behind, just bringing it all together as the drums beat into a great strong and powerful soft yet loud scream. You hear the desperation in the delivery of the lyrics and in the music that carries it. The guitar solo is sweetly and sickly desperate and goes through the emotions from the whine of hurt to the anger of it all and then gives up and throws it hands out when the lyrics pick up again.

"Imitation of …" has to have some of my all-time favourite lyrics (don’t even ask me to pick one….I will spontaneously combust):

She’s an imitation of
What she longs to be
Standing naked
Fully clothed
Pretending not to see

Another classic sound from Human Drama but this time a bit rougher and harder with more guitars and less string and flutes than in his more recent offerings. This is nowhere more apparent than with "Goodnight Sweetheart" which brings that rough edge to its peak. The lyrics being poignant, yet the edge of sound gives away the anger that is just under the surface.

And then almost out of nowhere, comes "Lonely", a piece which has the ramblings of a piano that makes one shudder and squirm. David Zimmerman’s arrangement creates the haunting and evocative atmosphere of a man who wonders how much more can he sink into the hole of loneliness. It’s peaks and valleys musically describe the ups and downs of one who is analysing that which has set them into this place….this is what happened and this is how horrific I feel….can it get worse? Is this the bottom of the pit or is there further to fall? I will say that as the piece continues, the arrangement reminds me a bit, influenced by or what have you by George Winston, he of the gorgeous piano arrangements. Just shudders up and down my spine and it ends in this gorgeous banging and growing crescendo which is then just let go.

"Madame Hate’s Mad Search For Love" has to be one of my most favourite titles for a song. It’s almost Alice in Wonderland-ish….but in title only. This soaring song, which gives the story of a woman who looks for love only to push it away simultaneously. Another song which just makes the tower of impressive offerings from the band higher, this does one thing that makes a band such as this a great one. It is an evolution. This is not just “another” great song from Human Drama. This (and every other song on the CD) are pushing the boundaries of what they have always done – making evocative music with lyrics that equal it. Exploring the way that instruments can express a sound without a voice doing it and inversely, allowing words to do their magic (with the invaluable voice of Johnny Indovina) without the music barging in. There is a marriage here within the music, the sound that is Human Drama.

"Bang The Drum Slowly" is a cover here on the album, originally done I believe by Emmy Lou Harris. Now, I have never heard the original version so a comparison cannot be made and for that I apologise. I don’t know about anyone else….but for some odd reason (it may be the 6 foot tree behind me, I don’t know) I really felt Christmassy listening to this song. It is a sad song, about not getting the chance to ask the questions about this and that. About missed opportunities….yet the music makes up for what is missing.

"The Mystery" covers that time when you understand that you will go on, you get that firm determination that you will recover no matter how hurt you have been. And you will find that happiness that has been elusive up to now.  "Cynthia’s Journal" is one of those whispering songs from HD (hey I can do that, can’t I?) where it weaves and woves it way around you and through you. "The Battle" is that interesting war that goes on within yourself when you do find someone new after you have picked yourself up by your britches and got on with it. Baggage they call it, right? Will this person do what the last person do? Do you believe them despite what has been done to you before? Will they lie? Will they cheat?  The music leaves the lyrics to do the work. And yet steps out for a moment with a lovely and poignant guitar solo, as drums gently massage it along. It is not a battle per se musically (and perhaps it could have been?) but just a way of taking you from questioning to perhaps answering.

And then there is the irony.  "About Michelle". After all the pain, all the hurt and the slow recovery, and the stepping out to find someone new…Michelle…she has seemingly more baggage than he that sought her out. And perhaps that is the way? You find that which needs you more than you yourself do. In that way, you avoid dealing without your own baggage as you have to really deal with someone else’s. This song once again has some searing and gorgeous guitars. Not light and dancing, but rocking and edgy guitars.

"Dance Me to the End of Love" is gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. You can almost feel the breath of Johnny Indovina on your next as he sings this song to you. Never touching you, just being close enough for you to feel his breath and to hear his soft voice in your soul. The music collaborates in on this plot, tripping around it all dancing on notes and sounds, never really settling anywhere.

Alright – this isn’t the most of unbiased reviews of the century. I love Human Drama. But once again Johnny Indovina and the boys have proved that they are worthy of my undying devotion and enthusiasm. They evolve, they push and they never stop giving you evocative music.

Track Listing:
1) I Am Not Here
2) Look at Me Now
3) Quiet Desperation
4) Imitation Of…
5) Goodnight Sweetheart
6) Lonely
7) Madame Hate’s Mad Search for Love
8) Bang the Drum Slowly
9) The Mystery
10) Cynthia’s Journal
11) The Battle
12) About Michelle
13) Dance Me to the End of Love

Human Drama is:
Johnny Indovina
Mark Balderas
Michael Ciravolo
Edward Donato
Steve Fuxan

Website: http://www.humandrama.net
 

HEXETANZ
The Sabbat Comes Softly
The Fossil Dungeon (limited edition of 500 – vinyl)
~reviewed by Mick Mercer

It’s so long since I have listened to some vinyl that I first had to crack open the lid to the record player, as there was candle wax all down the front, which can serve as a lesson to us all. When I did then take out the single it’s on that seriously heavyweight vinyl which is close in density of acetates. Scary!

Hexetanz is a collaboration between members of The Soil Bleeds Black and Psychonaut 75 combine to bring you what they believe to be an expression of mythic sorcerous and witchcraft-related images steeped in true medieval mystery and creepiness, so you probably already have a basic idea of what this is going to sound like. Bleak, windblown atmospherics are enlivened by less than melodic singing, and an atmosphere designed to curdle the stomach lining settles everywhere.

Funnily enough, I’d just finished watching an appallingly cheap film about some Welsh pagan lunatic who wanted to re-take the country and instil in it once again the original culture. This necessitated human sacrifice and lots of unconvincing people done up in body paint looking like Burning Man participants. Stranger still, they got away with their murders and continued on their merry way of siring special children to eventually meet their doom in rites of degradation. Ah well, win some, lose some.

‘The Sabbath’ is echoes, shadows, impressively vocal rasping about spirits and going along splendidly when a funny kink in the vinyl kicked in and became unintentionally extra-dramatic, until I realised the stylus needed moving. They stick to a basic pattern rather than any actual rhythm, and it isn’t harsh like ear-pounding ambient, but selective and illustrative. It also isn’t pleasant.

Forget Burning Man and think Wicker Man, as ‘Charivari’ has that queasiness shot through it, producing a cross between a madrigal of menace and nightmares over playing the recorder in music lessons at junior school.

On the second side they opt for basic samples and curiously swelling mood music, after which they relent and introduce more conventional rhythm, plus fairly winsome vocals, but the overall impression remains one of tough, sparse sounds. It’s a fairly barren experience and wholly convincing, but it’s definitely an acquired taste.

THE SABBATH COMES SOFTLY
CHARIVARI
OSCULUM INFAME
ASMODEUS RISE

The Soil Bleeds Black – http://www.erols.com/tsbb
Psychonaut 75 – http://www.infernalhorde.com/psychonaut
The Fossil Dungeon - http://www.erols.com/tsbb/dungeon
 

In the Nursery
Cause + Effect
~reviewed by Mike Ventarola

In The Nursery has always been known for their lush orchestrations which have found their way into multiple film scores and trailer inclusions. Here, then, is a wonderful surprise for previous fans as well as new underground music fans just entering the scene.

Each track on this CD was carefully selected from the band’s 21 years of 23 back catalog albums and commissioned for exclusive remixes. In the collection is also In The Nursery’s own interpretation of the classic Joy Division track, “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”

This landmark mini-retrospective coalesces the best of orchestral, ethereal and organic atmospheres with electronic pulsations for today’s more popular underground music. Essentially, it is not only a work of beauty for home listening, but also a bevy of luxuriant hybrid sounds that could easily find its way into a club setting.

For those new to the band, In The Nursery has been included in such films as Erin Brockovich, Interview With The Vampire, The Sweet Hereafter and The Rainmaker. They also did an optical music performances to the silent film classics The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Asphalt, Man With A Movie Camera and Hindle Wakes, which have toured extensively in film art houses to sell out audiences around the globe.

Flesh Field crafted “A Rebours” combining a backdrop of medieval orchestral and vocal intensity with French female vocals wrapped around industrial rhythm. For fans of E Nomine, you simply must hear this track!

Ever popular Faith & The Muse showcase their interpretation of “Angelorum,” layering their trademark essence of night time goth gloom with additional vocals from Monica Richards. This mix combines medieval style orchestration with gentle tweakings to bring the track to a night time percussive splendor.

In The Nursery tossed their hat in the ring with a cover of the ever popular Joy Division hit, “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” Instead of tweaking this to be an industrial or goth rock crossover, the track undertakes a more decided Medieval direction, similar to Estampie or Arcana, bringing forth the essence and intensity of the original lyrics.

Chandeen took Belle Epoque and crafted hints of worldbeat tranquility and sieved it through a star laden sky in the middle of Springtime.

And Also The Trees gave “Corruption” a hybrid flavoring of Spanish & Medieval sentiments layered under gentle percussive intensity which simply explodes with infectious marching drum beats.

Steve Bennett made “Miracle Road” sound as though it was rising from the depths of the ocean like Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus.” The seductive drum n’ bass effect combined with the French vocals, make this an enticingly seductive track.

Assemblage 23 pumped up the BPM’s a few notches with “Hymn Noir,” slicing, dicing and reattaching sound like a patchwork quilt that collectively works as a brand new track with a dark atmosphere with a Euro feel.

A_Robot took “And Your Eyes” and gave it a musical quality that combines elements of Earth and Sky, all while adding just the right touches of electronic elements to cascade over the song. This gentleness then segued into an infectious old school goth rock beat while infusing the original work as a backdrop.

The ever popular Attrition, whose career and recordings span just as long as In The Nursery, gave homage with the track “To The Faithful.” A Medieval style sounding track was tweaked with modern electronic elements that at first is like riding on a cloud and then sauntered into a collage of drum n bass and gentle industrial intonations.

Ivan Lusco made “El Secreto” his track from beginning to end. With a scalpel-like precision, this track was carved and edited in such a way that it is highly seductive and  danceable all while keeping the essence of the original work layered in the mix.

The highly popular industrial artist Haujobb took “L’Espirit” and ripped it from the roots, tossing in electronic effects and bending the original work around a multitude of sounds. Here, one will find scratches, bleeps and heavy duty percussion as the main body while the orchestration itself is dressed upon it like a mannequin.

Electronium took “Chronicle” and made the gentle opening convey an essence of anticipation. Teasingly, the vocals and percussion slowly bubble from below, like a rising tide of erotic energy until the final thrust of longing can no longer be contained for yet another second. Kama Sutra-like essences are dancing between the bursts of energy to create a magnificent recreation of tidal like sound spectrum.

Seize finishes this compilation with “Caprice,” a drum n’ bass percussive groove that cuts up the vocals in refractory elements, adding a further touch of energy. The electronic sounds surround the track without overpowering it, and then we are segued to a full frontal assault of industrial drum n’ bass that frantically merges with electronic elements and the orchestration.
 

Cause + Effect is more than a compilation of remixes spanning the career of In The Nursery. It is clearly a dedication of love to the band with such insightful and carefully constructed interpretations that outshines many of the tribute albums currently cluttering the market.

Many of the tracks featured could be utilized during the opening or closing of a club night, while a few could also be utilized during the height of the night itself. Considering all of the avenues that In The Nursery has undertaken for more than two decades, it shouldn’t be surprising that this recording will also catapult them towards the next few decades as well.

The targeted market is the newer music fan coming into the scene requiring more energetic music, however, the entire collection doesn’t assault the senses. Instead, it plays and dances with the original text of the music while infiltrating the personal mark of each of the artist’s who contributed to the project. Ultimately, old and new fans will find this a rewarding and enriching body of sound that will fit in the club as well as at home without missing a beat. Do seek this CD out because it is a true testament of what artists can recreate with the highest integrity that focuses on substance and quality.

Tracks:
1. Flesh Field  A Rebours (Against Nature)
2. Faith & the Muse Angelorum (Fifth Angel)
3. In The Nursery Love Will Tear Us Apart (Again)
4. Chandeen  Belle Epoque (Interpretation)
5. And Also The Trees Corruption (Sister & Brother)
6. Steve Bennett  Miracle Road ( Do You Remember)
7. Assemblage 23 Hymn Noir (Robotweak)
8. A_Robot  And Your Eyes (And Your Soul)
9. Attrition  To The Faithful ( In Rememberance)
10. Ivan Lusco  El Secreto (It)
11. Haujobb  L’Espirit (Angeldustrial)
12. Electronium  Chronicle (Retold)
13. Seize   Caprice (Levity)

Website: www.inthenursery.com
Email: itn@itncorp.demon.co.uk

Distributed by:
EFA/Europe
PHD/ UK
Metropolis/ USA
 

Lovesick
Gorgeous Tragedy
~reviewed by Kevin Filan

Gorgeous Tragedy, the new CD by Boise, Idaho band Lovesick, is the aural equivalent of comfort food.  They play straightforward poppy, melodic Goth Rock that goes down easy and leaves you feeling satisfied.  Their influences are plainly visible -- a liberal sprinkling of the Cure, a healthy cupful of New Romanticism, a dash of Howard Jones -- but the end result manages to evoke the pleasures of the familiar without becoming derivative or unimaginative.

Much of the power in Lovesick's music comes from Jeran Dahlquist's voice.  Many Gothic singers strive for melodrama; others wind up there without even trying.  Dahlquist understands the power of restraint.  When he softly croons "Sometimes I'm strong/Sometimes I hate you like I should" (in "Sometimes") or "She's going to die alone/and I don't care" (in "Nameless") you feel heartbreak, not pathos.  Instead of scenery-chewing and breast-beating, you get the wistful sadness of love gone wrong; instead of shrieking anger, you get the quiet frustration of a collapsing relationship ("Haunting").  Jeran's singing is subtle but not unfeeling, neither Gary Numanesque anhedonia or Robert Smith histrionics.

Credit should also be given to the instrumental support.  On "Gone Away," Dalquist and Thom Keithly provide a tuneful two-pronged guitar attack that joins with the keyboard for an accompaniment that could be a lost track from the Cure's Disintegration sessions.  In an earlier review of a Lovesick EP, I felt like "Haunting" hadn't really jelled as a song.  The new version is tighter and far stronger, thanks largely to a strong sweet power-pop lead guitar underpinning and more strong synth work from Ryan Powers.

There are innumerable bands today who are trying to do an "80s sound."  Most of them suck donkey scrotums.  Thankfully, Lovesick takes their cue from the best of the 80s.  "Starfall" is sweet and sad, a remembrance of things past complete with jingly piano and straight-ahead 4/4 drumbeat by Landon Shaffer, who neither looks nor plays like a beatbox.  It's not the cold mechanistic riffs of synthpop, but rather the music of 80s MTV, revamped for a new generation.  I was reminded at times of the autumnal melancholy of Bruce Hornsby or vintage Elton John.  It's as if Lovesick came to us from an alternate dimension where Grunge never happened.  They're not afraid to write simple melodic pop tunes... and have given us a 5-song CD with five potential singles.

Many of the CDs I review end up as drink coasters.  A few have taken up near-permanent residence in my stereo's carousel.  Lovesick's Gorgeous Tragedy is the latest one.  If the boys from Boise keep going like this, before long I'm going to have to buy a bigger multidisc player.

1. Sometimes
2. Gone Away
3. Haunting
4. StarFall
5. Nameless

Jeran Dahlquist: Vocals, Guitars
Ryan Powers: Keyboards
David Schafer: Bass
Thom Keithly: Guitars
Landon Shaffer: Drums

Violin on "Sometimes" by Jyri Glynn

Lovesick Website
http://www.lovesick.net

The Machine In The Garden
Asphodel
~reviewed by Mike Ventarola

Like the flower for which this CD is named after, Asphodel is as delicate as it is bold. The Machine In The Garden have created a wonderful masterpiece on this, their fourth full-length release. The musical bouquet spans the gamut between love, despair, desire and sorrow. The whole body of work drifts as though one is in an intoxicatingly fragrant terrain whose scent is only evident in the midnight hour of introspection.

Summer Bowman’s ethereal vocals are more powerful than ever, sweeping with a maiden’s luminosity that are as enthralling as the invisible garden upon which she treads.
The entire work was written and performed by Roger Frace and Bowman, demonstrating once again that Bowman is more than a pretty face to front a musical outfit.

The musical structures delve into ethereal, tribal, bittersweet melancholia to club friendly dance cadences, thus maintaining their vision of the progress of technology and its relationship with nature and philosophy. It also expounds on the tight working relationship between Frace and Bowman and their finer musical visions to congeal in a full flowing thematic body of work.

“Masks” with its goth inspired underscoring, has Bowman reflecting on the empty eyed stare of those who hide their soul while wearing a false façade. This masquerade is timeless and follows mankind from generation to generation, where no one ever seems to grasp the full intent of its duplicity.

“Outside” delves into the sense of hopelessness of waking from a mental slumber, realizing that forgotten dreams have passed by. Its opening strains remind one of a lone desert out west, where the sun is going down and there is no open road to be found. Bowman delivers this track with dose of haunted heartbreak as well as a that of a warning discarnate entity from the depths of our own psyche.

“Time” extrapolates further on the sentiments from the previous track. Only it is later in the day as the jungle rhythm carries us along on the mid-afternoon reverie. Here, misbegotten dreams of things that were planned seem virtually lost in the sands of time and memory.

“Wonderland” is the duo’s foray into a club friendly mid-tempo track where organic and technological blends are more evident. Bowman’s vocals are of a deeper register with a flawless self-harmony. This track embodies the poignant highs and lows we often realize when we stop long enough to think about the direction our lives have taken and how much further we really need to go to create its fruition.

“Icarus” basks in the resignation of being unable to undo the damage created by another. However, it is also an empowering tune where there is a more forthright assertiveness that realizes the futility of the situation and the need to get away from its toxicity.

“Ghost,” fully written and performed by Bowman, has a wonderful double entendre that is relational as well as spiritual. On one hand, there is the element of feeling like one is invisible to their beloved, fading away like a ghost that they cannot see. At the other end of the spectrum, one can interpret this as a song from a ghost herself, crying out to their beloved to feel them before they are fully taken from the Earth bound etheric realm.

“Open” creates a macabre and ghostly presence, hinting at the essence of disenchantment coupled with personal and subconscious unraveling that cannot be stopped.

“Clarity” is a sad song where one must witness the volatile mood swings of someone whom they hold very dear. It begs for understanding and intervention before the madness fully engulfs them as well.

“Dawn” was written by John Ford (1586-1639), whose beautiful poetry belies the sorrows that haunt us even in sleep. The duo crafted yet another magnum opus with this gentle piece of ethereal classical sensibility. Bowman’s vocals are crystal clear and just that much closer to eliciting heartbreak.

“Echo” introspectively examines how one comes to the realization that all that is within their life is of their own doing. This is not a place where one wants to be and the cruel echoing reminders travel down that long winding road, relentlessly taunting us of the need to move on.

“Cry” would indicate from the title that it is a personal song of pitiful lament. It is that, but only it is the cry for another, one who is trapped by situational circumstances. This again provides a double entendre, because we can interpret this as something for one in a bad relationship, one who is terminally ill, or for one who simply is unyielding in their thoughts and behaviors to improve their life.

“Seek” is the duo’s other foray into club friendly music, with  Bowman donning the hat of one who is part of a whole, yet quite separated from it. She sings of our own activity that has lead to very little in the long run. It is as though this is a song for the club kids without a direction in their lives, seeking to be a part of something while hoping to be able to latch onto at least one dream in this lifetime.

“One” provides a wizened encouragement to grasp our thoughts and dreams in our period of aloneness. This is for all those who have paid their dues who are consistently met with opposition and shame

“Photographic” is a cover from Depeche Mode and written by Vince Clark.  The duo translated this into a mystical twilight, offering gentle percussion with hints of medieval tones, that fulminates midway through the track. The delivery here makes us realize that what we do with life is up to us, otherwise it ends up as meaningless as a photograph that survived a few generations. Those within that photograph are nameless faces to a modern world, like centuries old tombstones that rot unattended in the graveyard. Essentially, we need to slow down and share our heart and soul with those we love before it is nothing more than just a snapshot in time.

Although it is often said that an artist’s latest work is their best, rest assured, The Machine In The Garden’s “Asphodel” is just that. Bowman and Frace delicately mixed soaring guitars, ethereal melodies, tribal rhythms and dashes of electronica underneath just the right emotive touches of darkness. Lyrically, we are brought to a level of introspection that plumbs the depths of our dreams, nightmares and eternal unrealized longings. These sentiments often belie double entendres, which were calculatingly sequenced in this musical cluster, inspiring further cogitation of personal experiential interpretation.

This duo has long been a favorite among the ethereal Goth crowd because of the timeless beauty with which they craft their music. During this outing, the duo took us into that secret garden, exposing layers of our own emotional disadvantages while still providing hope that there is indeed a way out of the labyrinth if we seek long and hard enough for the solutions to these enigmatic personal puzzles. For those who like to sink their teeth into musical and lyrical beauty and construction, Asphodel should make it to the top of your next musical shopping list.

Tracks:
1. Masks
2. Outside
3. Time
4. Wonderland
5. Icarus
6. Ghost
7. Open
8. Clarity
9. Dawn
10. Echo
11. Cry
12. Seek
13. One
14. Photographic

Website: www.tmitg.com
Sound samples: www.mp3.com/themachineinthegarden
Email: tmitg@tmitg.com
Distributed by: Middle Pillar www.middlepillar.com

Maseterplan
Enlighten Me (EP)
~reviewed by Joel Steudler

If I were asked to describe Masterplan's style in four words, I'd say "sounds like eighties music".  Perplexing though it is, they have chosen to borrow stylistically from such artistic giants as Whitesnake and Mr. Big and wedge elements of that sound into a vaguely powermetal-ish approach.  I don't really understand what drove them to take such actions, but take them they did... leaving me with the unenviable task of reviewing their five track EP, 'Enlighten Me'.

Perhaps I should take the title of the album as a plea for someone to alleviate the band's obvious ignorance.  Allow me to do so:  Eighties hair metal music should be left in the eighties.  That era is long gone.  There is no reason to revisit it, outside of the occasional fit of nostalgia.  We do not need new music in that style, as there is plenty to be found clogging 'SALE' bins and gathering dust on CD racks already.  I do not see any merit in allowing a bunch of Van Halen or Winger wannabes to profit from their poor decision making skills, and as such I advocate that you steer clear of this release.  If you were to buy it, it would only encourage them to make more.

Since I don't want to be a total jerk, and I feel I have some obligation to fulfill my duty as a journalist (of sorts), I must point out that there are some laudable aspects to 'Enlighten Me'.  First, it is only five tracks long, running a total of twenty one minutes.  That alone made it far more tolerable than the inevitable full length release.  Second, the band knows how to handle their instruments.  They are skilled musicians... but they have sadly chosen to use their skills in a disappointing and redundant way.  Finally, the album is (unsurprisingly) slickly produced, making it perfect for all those anachronistic European radio stations that beam out music like this to people trapped hopelessly in the past.

I can't for the life of me think of one reason to spend money purchasing this EP.  I'm sure there are arenas full of happy Euros who would disagree with me, but I cannot count myself among their number.  This album was clearly made for those people who are unaware of the existence of any bands who have advanced the vanguard of metal music in the last two decades.  They can have it.

Track List:
01.) Enlighten Me (Single Edit)
02.) Kind Hearted Light
03.) Through Thick And Thin
04.) Black Dog
05.) Enlighten Me (Album verson)

Masterplan is:
Roland Grapow: guitars
Uli Kusch: drums
Jorn Lande: vocals
Jan S. Eckert: bass
Axel Mackenrott: keys

Masterplan Official Website:
http://www.master-plan.net/

AFM records:
http://www.afm-records.de/

The End Records (US):
http://www.theendrecords.com
 

Negative Format
Static
~reviewed by Mike Ventarola

The first noticeable thing about this release is the wonderfully futuristic cover art by Steph Dumais aka Rasinlove (www.raisinlove.com) of a bald, glossy lipped female  mannequin with static in her eyes, driving home the name and the focus of the CD.

“Begin Transmission” has static and voices bubbling through many layers of cacophony which lasers in a sound effect to segue into the next track.

The cover art is made even more memorable as the opening line to “Static” states, “our nation/ it weeps from the static in our eyes.” The track drives home the point of our own national freedoms being encroached due to political and media manipulation helping to bring global genocide to even greater levels.

“Downfall” takes the global message further by noting how we are responsible for allowing our own will and human substance to be violated without question.

The genocide mix of “Static” by Informatik takes the same 126 BMP and somehow makes it sound even faster. Deep drilling electronic pulses are underscored by a lyrical delivery that is much harsher, as if an electronic scream to wake us up from the madness around us.

“Gateway” is a predominantly instrumental track and has less of an aggro feel to it. The mechanized voice punctuates at precise moments to takes us on our journey of what could be deemed high end EBM with a Euro touch.

Headscan’s version of “Static” gave it a decided apocalyptic feel. Machines seemed to have taken over as we are mentally brought to a barren wasteland. From the depths of the dark sounds, Heaadscan titillated with punctuated beats and razor like slashes of electronic music. It is further heightened with pulsing high synth notes, crafting a mélange of electronic music that you simply want to get lost into.

“Sense” hits home with a sentiment that could very well become a page from our not too distant future. Here, we are awash with violence and programming, trying to make sense of the annihilation and indoctrination we have been subjected to. This is that inner awareness when we face the fact that our mission is to change tomorrow without being limited or concerned by where we are taking it. The vocoder effect has a harmonious range to it, taking it from being just a one dimensional “voice.”

“N.E.A.R.” from the artists previous CD “Distant Pulses”  has Aiboforcen translating this song with twists of mechanized sound over aggro beats.  It is the darkened mechanical jungle of tomorrow set to music.

The Implant Mix of “Static” crafts electronica with haunting images from our past through various weavings of sound samples in a surrealistic landscape. The pumping jungle beats underscored by the electronic bleeps take the song “Static” to yet another dimension that is destined to leave dance floors panting for air.

“End Transmission” has an organic feel, as though we are going through flesh and water while distant voices are heard just a step out of the conscious range. This is the laboratory assault of creating man as machine cleverly woven in a drum and bass rhythm.

Between the name of the Cd and the cover art, Negative Format wins points for truth in advertising. One simply has an idea of what they are going to get with this release to some extent, however many will be pleasantly surprised that many versions of a song  can be redone to sound totally new and unique.

Studio 9 is to be applauded for signing up this thought provoking artist who creates more than just electronic “dance” music. Matheu delves into the inner recesses of his own fears about tomorrow and sets them poetically down in the hope that we may imbibe some meaning from his observations. The tracks are not preachy in any way but rather create scenarios as though from a mini-electronic play. The work is about futurism gone awry and out of our own control. Negative Format has managed to marry club music, poetry and art cohesively and intelligently where it can move the dancers while still being intriguing.

Tracks:
1. Begin Transmission
2. Static (126 BPM)
3. Downfall (140 BPM)
4. Static (genocide mix by Informatik) 126 BPM
5. Gateway (136 BPM)
6. Statis (remix by Headscan) 126 BPM
7. Sense 138 BPM
8. N.E.A.R. (Aiboforcen Mix) 133 BPM
9. Static (Implant remix) 140 BPM
10. End Transmission

Negative Format is: In Studio:
Alex Matheu- lyrics, arrangements, synths, loops, vocals

On Stage:
Alex Matheu- synths, loops, vocals
David Toro- synths, loops, vocals

Website: www.negativeformat.com

Label: www.sector9studios.com
 

Nightingale
Alive Again: the breathing shadow part IV
~reviewed by Eric Rasmussen

Dan Swano, much like Steve DiGiorgio and Hellhammer, manages to pop up on far too many recordings for his own good. I'm beginning to think guys like Dan Swano just wander from studio to studio asking random bands if they need a helping hand. While Mr. Swano is known for a lot of things in the world of metal, Nightingale is probably the truest representation of his voice that we'll ever get to hear.

"Alive Again" is part classic (prog) rock, and part... I don't know what. One minute the music will be dark and serious, then it will turn into bouncy happy synthy 80's music, only to remind you of TV sitcom theme songs and an era of music that many of us have tried hard to forget. Inexplicably, Swano and crew manage to work those styles into their prog rock sound without sounding cheesy or random.

Nightingale play highly melodic, vocal-oriented rock. Dan Swano's vocals provide an emotional depth that you just don't hear from vocalists in the metal scene these days. Tom Nouga trades guitar leads and solos with Dan Swano in a very tasteful and melodic sort of way. The solos are prog, but not the kind of shred or neo-classical prog that hit its peak in the 80's. Every solo adds something to its song in a meaningful way, and provides a nice contrast to the vocal performance. The rest of the band keeps up just fine and fills out the rhythm section perfectly.

Despite all of these good qualities, I don't know who to recommend this CD too. It is a very good album with excellent vocal content, but the occasional lapses into an 80's sound and some of the lighter moments can be just a little on the annoying side. So I can't recommend this to hardcore metal fans who don't appreciate classic rock - they won't be able to stomach it. But if you're into the great prog rock acts of the 70's and are looking for a convincing performance in that style, give Nightingale a listen. They really don't rehash what has been done before them. "Alive Again" will provide you with a new sound that's vaguely reminiscent of the good ol' days of rock music.

Track List:
1) Recollections
2) Shadowman
3) The Glory Days
4) Falling
5) Into the Light
6) Eternal
7) State of Shock
8) The One
9) Shadowland Serenade
10) Forever and Never

Nightingale is:
Dan Swano - lead vocals, guitar, keyboards
Tom Nouga  - guitar, keyboards
Erik Oskarsson - bass
Tom Bjorn - drums

The End Records:
http://www.theendrecords.com

Overkill
Wrecking Everything: An Evening In Asbury Park (DVD)
~reviewed by Joel Steudler

In the no-nonsense spirit of Overkill, I'll cut past any BS and get right to the point:  if you're a fan of the band, you will enjoy this two disc DVD set a great deal.  The well-recorded live concert performance on disc I includes virtually every great Overkill song of note (plus some soon-to-be classics), and disc II's lengthy documentary 'Batmen: The Return' is alone worth the ticket price.  Hours of ass kicking thrash metal await you on this must-have purchase.

Die-hard fans aren't the only ones who will appreciate this set.  If someone looking to find out what Overkill is all about asked me what songs they should listen to to get a sense of the band's style, I could pick no better a collection than the one presented on disc I.  The setlist spans the band's almost twenty-year long discography and includes a number of my personal favorites ('Elimination', 'Gasoline Dreams') alongside the best cuts off their most recent albums.  I will admit, however, that any prospective Overkill fans will have to decide if they like Bobby 'Blitz' Ellsworth's distinctive singing voice before laying down money for this or any other Overkill release.  His high-pitched snarl seems to fall into the 'love it or hate it' category.  I've always enjoyed his trademark sound, but I can see where others may be put off.  With that one caveat aside, I can easily recommend that anyone with even a passing interest in the band look into spending 'An Evening In Asbury Park'.

The impressive sound quality of the live concert is matched by its entertaining (if a bit repetitious) video component.  There's only so much visual variety you can squeeze out of a long show at one venue, but the fervor with which Overkill delivers their music to the crowd prevents things from becoming too monotonous.  It amazes me that Blitz and DD Verni (the only remaining original members of the band) retain such enthusiasm on stage after having played several thousand shows.  Their passion for making hard and heavy thrash music shines through both in the concert and during the fascinating documentary on disc II, 'Batmen: The Return'.

While not as slickly produced as anything you'd find on MtV or VH1, 'Batmen' features Mssrs. Verni and Ellsworth openly discussing all manner of topics honestly and at length.  They cover much ground talking about the band's history, what past members of the band are up to, memorable moments from their numerous tours, and much more.  To keep things lively, bootleg-quality snippets from many old shows are interspersed between the question-and-answer sessions, and the other current members of the band pop in at times as well to offer up more insight into what makes Overkill tick.

For only a little over twenty dollars, this DVD set is easily worth the money.  Fans new and old get plenty of great music and a very entertaining documentary for only a little more than the price of a typical album on CD these days.  If you like Overkill, or think that you might, there's no reason to wait- you need to buy 'Wrecking Everything: An Evening In Asbury Park'... It'll kick your ass, but this is one beating you won't want to end.
 

Track List:
Disc I
01.) Necroshine
02.) Thunderhead
03.) Evil Never Dies
04.) Deny The Cross
05.) Wrecking Crew
06.) Powersurge
07.) Gasoline Dream
08.) I Hate
09.) Coma
10.) Shred
11.) Hello From The Gutter
12.) Bleed Me
13.) Long Time Dyin
14.) It Lives
15.) Battle
16.) Spiritual Void
17.) The Years Of Decay
18.) In Union We Stand
19.) Overkill
20.) Horrorscope
21.) Rotten To The Core
22.) Elimination
23.) Fuck You/War Pigs

Disc II
Batmen: The Return
Behind The Scenes
Picture Gallery

Overkill is:
Bobby 'Blitz' Ellsworth - Vocals
DD Verni - Bass
Derek Tailer - Guitars
Tim Mallare - Drums
Dave Linsk - Guitars

Overkill Official Website:
http://www.wreckingcrew.com/

Spitfire records:
http://www.spitfirerecords.com/
 

THE QUESTION
Sandclocks, Heartbeats….And Other Sounds From God’s Misantrophy
~reviewed by Mick Mercer

Okay, now when bands with ‘difficult’ music issue a press release saying that this album, apparently seven years in the making, evokes or echoes “all those voices spinning around our minds but we can’t hear” it’s easy to open the window wide and fling the offending CD as far as your strength and following winds will allow. When you also notice it will contain “ethereal soundscapes, cold electronic ambiences and darkfolk anthems” there’s a sense of everything thrown in, leading to a hotchpotch too horrible to compare. A relief, then, to reveal this album is every bit as attractive as that devilish Dr Kevorkian CD reviewed a few weeks back.

Quite why The Question took seven years to release this I don’t know, and it enrages as much as it excites because it’s always annoying to think about an awful possibility. Being so close to the music the main person credited, one Coma, doesn’t seem to realise just how attractive most of the music is. More on that in a sec.

It has variety but isn’t pulled needlessly apart, or dragged into excesses. Opener ‘Waiting’ is a good introduction to what they can do, whereby it seems two pieces of music run parallel, then merge. Think soundtrack and think moody French romance, imagining that elegant noir music they’d have tinkling gently, then think of chilly music accompanying stock footage of the Russian steppes. Then blend. It’s that simple. It’s also strangely evocative.

‘Suicide’ is gloomy, not doomy, again taking a filmic route, somewhere between a grubby one nightstand between The Matrix and Nikita. ‘The Triumph Of Death’ takes these smeared symphonies to another state, where odd vocal statements snicker before a dank, clipped industrial tapestry, but wait – look at the potential because ‘Exorcism’, which could almost be 18th Century court music turned on its head, features the awesome vocals of Jupiter, whoever she may be, and album, of material like this would get some serious attention, being half Propaganda, half Massive Attack. Quite extraordinary.

Then it takes a weird dip, possibly with Coma taking the blame, because ‘Sounds Like Glass’ features vocal stylings so OTT that it’s like a 90 year old Eldritch holding sway, an unwelcome display that reappears during ‘A Little Mistake’ which rather spoils the glacially fresh music beneath, and the more the syllables crawl dramatically from his mouth you hope someone might creep up behind him, slap him hard and say, ‘now do it PROPERLY!’ Add to this a weird burst of interference-turned-melody called ‘The Swamp Within’ and the fluttering ideas of ‘Darkroom’ cast over jangled piano, and you have a superb album which remains a mystery. If you like the unexpected, and still prefer it melodic rather than harsh, this will cause real excitement.

Waiting
Suicide
The Triumph Of Death
Souls Like Glass
Exorcism
The Swamp Within
A Little Mistake
Darkroom

Available from:
http://www.piccadillyrecords.com
http://www.roughtrade.com
http://the_question1.tripod.com

Star of Ash
Iter.Viator.
~reviewed by Joel Steudler

In case you thought for a minute that it was 'Repeat Articles From Last Issue As Filler' Month again (already? where does the time go?), I'll start this review by pointing out that yeah... StarVox ran a review of 'Iter.Viator.' in December as well.  Since The End Records was kind enough to provide us with two copies of the album, though, we dedcided to pass on the generosity to you -our three loyal readers- and offer up this second look at an album that deserves many more looks than two.  Simply put, Star of Ash's 'Iter.Viator.' is fine art.

Like some insane amalgamation of Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Picasso, the music on 'Iter.Viator.' is comprised of disparate elements which improbably combine to form captivating art.  Synthy electronica and symphonic strings and horns ebb and flow like waves breaking on the shore as the mood shifts across tracks.  Driving drumbeats propel the listener through the more aggressive moments on the album while at other times pensive, artificial atmospheres calm the senses.  Melancholy piano lines evoke vulnerability and wistful yearning, but are offset by crashing power chords, the buzz of the electric guitar signaling resolute determination.  I could be reading too much into the sounds Mrs. Heidi S. Tveitan has lavished upon 'Iter.Viator', and you may interpret them differently than I do, but the beauty of what she's created is that it engenders strong emotional responses, elicits powerful feelings.

I'll forego a detailed description of the contents of the album since Eric's review (and interview with Mrs. Tveitan) covered that ground in depth last month.  Instead, let me liken Star Of Ash's remarkable album to some other acts you may be familiar with.  If you liked Virgin Black's 'Somber Romantic', 'Iter.Viator.' will surely please you, as it too combines stunning artistry, dark themes, and great variety in instrumentation.  If, by chance, you happened to pick up Aesma Daeva's 'The Eros of Frigid Beauty', you may note similarites with 'Iter.Viator.' in that both employ orchestral accompaniment to great effect, and meld rock, gothic and classical elements.

Anyone familiar will Ulver's more recent work in the ambient/soundtrack arena will find themselves at home with Star of Ash as well.  In fact, Garm himself shows up on one track to lend some brief guest vocals (man has that guy ever improved his voice over the years or what?  His work here and on the latest Arcturus is stunningly smooth and powerful).  It came as no surprise to me that Garm brought Star Of Ash into the Jester records fold.

If you enjoy ambitious, artistic, impeccably crafted music that transcends genres and paints emotions on a canvas covered in many textures and colors, you owe it to yourself to seek this album out.  It heartens me and gives me hope for the future of music to know that there are still people out there who are capable of weaving exquisite tapestries of sound that make no concessions to commercial concerns, yet remain highly listenable and engaging.  Do not let Star of Ash's 'Iter.Viator.' escape your attention.

Track List:
01.) Chasm Blue
02.) Sanies
03.) Beautiful as Torment
04.) Death Salutes Atropos
05.) The Nudity of Light
06.) Odi Et Amo
07.) In the Throws of Guilt

Star of Ash is:
Heidi S. Tveitan - music, words, arrangements

Jester Records:
http://www.jester-records.com/

The End Records (US):
http://www.theendrecords.com
 

The Brides
Here Come the Brides (Dismal Abysmal, 2002)
~reviewed by Prof. Jef

What do you get when you mix two Brickbats, one Hallowteen, and a formerly Sleepless organist? If you answered The Brides, New York’s daffiest deathrock outfit, you’d be right, although a clove of garlic will also give you a great spaghetti sauce. (Just be sure to cook them at a high temperature and stir occasionally to prevent ingredients from sticking to the pot.)

With this double CD release, The Brides have given New Yorkers (and the world) FOUR CDs of material this year bringing twenty-seven songs to the table. That’s an overabundance for those of us who are not gourmands, and, truth be told, not all will strike your ear with equal relish. Even so, each release is more consistent than the previous and each contains some gems that shouldn’t be lost in the mix.

For those of you who don’t already have the Starvox compilation (and shame on YOU!), your ignorance may lead you to ask questions like, “What do these Brides taste like?” Well, they toss about morbid thematics amid a leafy blend of punk, garage, psychedelia (Cf. “To Mr. James,” one of my favorites!), and throat-splitting rock. Yes, songs like, “Curtains,” “Dial M,” and “Blessings” will leave you feeling stuffed, sated, yet, strangely, also hungry for more.

May we have some more?

If you want some, and you know that you do, merely wave your hairy tongue at: www.herecomethebrides.com or www.middlepillar.com
 

THE BRIDES
HERE COME THE BRIDES Part One (Dismal Abysmal)
~reviewed by Mick Mercer

You know damn well it’s too easy to say take farfisa-era Blondie and whirl into a thick and sickening Cramps paste when talking about The Brides, but you also know they’re heart-warmingly good in an off-kilter way, and this, the first of a two EP release, is something which will have you cavorting with pleasure.

Once again it’s high quality, let down only by occasional muddy production or low vocal projection so you can’t catch what you know are disarmingly clever lyrics. Seven stylishly brisk numbers, all with pert differences, all bearing the whiff of intrigue or sleaze.

They start with a very spruce caper, and while most songs keep things spry, they also have divergent styles, allowing dark changes in mood, for all the bubbling undercurrents. ‘Far Far Downtown’ and ‘Dress Code Blue’ both go for what I guess is Moulin Rogue (not a spelling error) with some pointed sloth mixed with waltzing carousel music (Lynda insisted there was a touch of Beatlesish ‘We Can Work It Out’ involved, at which I crawled into the garden and vomited), where the lightest tumult has a rich, manky feel.

Best song is ‘Amputation Celebration’ being a story, where you can’t discern who precisely wants what, or who gets it, but it enhances the edginess, and the worst aspect is that an organ like this doesn’t naturally lend itself to subtlety, having such a recognisable ‘sound’, so ‘Surprise Ending’ is weakened by that.

It’s another hideously cool release from them and the second part is here tomorrow.

THE VAUDEVILLAINS
DRESS CODE BLUE
CURTAINS
FAR FAR DOWNTOWN
SURPRISE ENDING
AMPUTATION CELEBRATION
DIAL M

http://www.herecomethebrides.com/
 

THE BRIDES
HERE COME THE BRIDES Part Two (Dismal Abysmal)
~reviewed by Mick Mercer

Guess no-one pointed out to these weirdoes that it helps to release a shite record once in a while to sharpen the listening appetite next time around because they have seven more delightful disgraces here. They have eluded Satan, but only just. They have merged the bubbly and the bubonic, and only always. It is a vile trick, and one which people must thank them for.

True, this session still bears evidence of tracks where the vocals are left choked and muddy behind the overall sound, but that’s their problem and not ours. Indeed I couldn’t find new lyrics on their website and I’m damned if I’m going to strain my ears trying to catch their gems of wisdom, so I’ll pretend instead that their words mean little more than a heartfelt apology for their disgusting behaviour from the day that they were born. If indeed they were.

Musically this set is darker and the ideas more profusely serious that on Part One, and there is in ‘Headed For A Hole’ a vast step to one side witnessed. If the majority of their work is a corpse bedecked in cheap lights and shot through with kitsch trickery, then here they take a powerful glow. I like the way it gives added feel to their approach and shows what they could do next time round. As well as their populist punk insanity, there is a more compulsive songwriting ethos to match the repulsive tendencies.

You get some stark and divinely jaunty drums in ‘Glitterror The Darksparkle’ just as ‘Pinup Doll’ gets added murk and pepper which it throws with its pounces. ‘Those Things You Cannot See’ can only be described as lugubrious, being of weak morals but charming in a lounge lizard way, with some hugely wayward supension, and there is a vaguely dull number in ‘Anatomical Gift’, which actually makes a nice change. ‘To Mr James’ allows you to play Spot The Historical Remnants (for which you must know late 60’s English pop) and some wonderfully crazed drama to close with.

More please.

GLITTERROR THE DARKSPARKLE
HEADED FOR A HOLE
PIN-UP DOLL
THOSE THINGS YOU CANNOT SEE
TO MR JAMES
ANATOMICAL GIFT
BLESSINGS

http://www.herecomethebrides.com/

Ulver
Lyckantropen Themes
~reviewed by Eric Rasmussen

As an avid Ulver fan, I own all of their CDs. When Ulver made one of the harshest, noisiest black metal albums ever unleashed upon the metal public - I listened. And I discovered a wealth of musical ability and some excellent compositions buried under the barrage of sound. But the question that has always bugged me is whether or not I would have listened so intently if the CD wasn't stamped with Ulver's logo. The same goes for Lyckantropen Themes, which is an excellent ambient album that I might have overlooked if it wasn't the latest Ulver release.

That being said, the new Ulver is here! Forget all the disclaimer crap I just ran through and revel in the beautiful and haunting soundtrack that Ulver designed for the short film Lyckantropen. I intend to see the movie eventually, but for now I can only describe the music on its own. In brief: Ulver creates nicely paced ambient songs with plenty of variation.

The songs range from haunting pieces with eerie noises and ambience to slightly more upbeat themes with identifiable melodies. The themes were created through some improvisation - not the kind of attribute you'd normally associate with soundtracks or ambient releases. The improvised melodies give Lyckantropen Theme a warm feel in spots, and the music never devolves into inhuman push-button blippyness the way many electronic albums do.

In addition the clinical feeling that I get from a lot of electronic releases, some artists just can't seem to craft memorable songs. Lyckantropen Themes is a pretty low-key and subdued affair, but Ulver manage to work their magic even in this context. All of the songs have slightly different textures and feelings. There is a definite movement throughout the work. It's nice to slip away into colorful soundscapes that transport you to another plane, let you explore it for a bit, and ultimately leave you with a sense that your journey was not in vain.

Although some critics have a tendency to praise Ulver no matter what music they make, I can honestly say that Lyckantropen Themes is a remarkable and enjoyable release on its own merits. This is a must have recording for all Ulver fans, ambient listeners, and even those of you that got into the lighter moments of Radiohead's Kid A.

Track List:
Themes 1-10
1. Nofvjo224010
2. 2 PQ Entry: Nofvjo224020
3. 3 PQ Entry: Nofvjo224030
4. 4 PQ Entry: Nofvjo224040
5. 5 PQ Entry: Nofvjo224050
6. 6 PQ Entry: Nofvjo224060
7. 7 PQ Entry: Nofvjo224070
8. 8 PQ Entry: Nofvjo224080
9. 9 PQ Entry: Nofvjo224090
10. 10 PQ Entry: Nofvjo224100

The End Records (US):
http://www.theendrecords.com

Jester Records:
http://www.jester-records.com/
 

VOLTAIRE
BOO HOO
~reviewed by Mick Mercer

Does this mark a turning point for Projekt, where they can also push at different boundaries, because the weirdo Voltaire (yes, he of Oh My Goth!) has some serious major potential here, and would be snapped up by an indie label in the UK faster than you can saying anything quick. He’s clever, he’s funny, he’s cool, and he’s made an album that moves away from the gypsy roots of old, towards middle ground.

I like a lot of it, and am slightly repelled by some. For someone who has wry touches he can be lyrically insulting at times, and musically there are some seriously disposable moments, which collide harshly with beautiful tracks. It’s a mixture which doesn’t hang together easily by any means.

Still, good easily outweighs the bad, so let’s start with the bad. ‘Future Ex’ is fairly naff indie, along with the hasty Smiths rejects we call ‘#1 Fan’ and ‘Let It Go’, and then the humour is too pat, too trifling so in ‘See You Hell’ I realise the instant comparison – he’s the long lost twin of Neal Hannon from Divine Comedy. It’s too quirky and wet (“it’s so obscene, you were so mean”? Zzzzzz!) ‘Irresponsible’ is so jaunty my heart dropped, and there the song lay also, like They Might Be Giants, minus the intelligence.

Fortunately he also has grand majestic oeuvres, and you may be wondering where the ghost of Nelson Riddle was in the husky crooner ‘…About A Girl’. You wouldn’t have found ‘Hello Cruel World’ which is achingly clever, out of place on the ‘Moulin Rouge’ soundtrack, and ‘Bachelor(ette)’ with a more fleeting, underplayed vocal style works fantastically well, creating a strange alien landscape. The light anguish of ‘Where’s The Girl’ is so simple, but so touching.

Obviously his humour can work. The mental tale of an evil meteor demanding his human servant bring him his favoured snack in ‘BRAIN!’ is superb, and you’ll adore ‘The Vampire Club’ (“the number one rule in this game, never call one by his real name”), and there’s further Gothnicity with ‘Graveyard Picnic’, as he sits quietly beneath the Poe tree.

I guess he needs to decide, to accept he’s a fully grown artist and really get to grips with mood and adventurous humour, or to kick back and wallow in light defeatist lyrics and soppy playacting?

FUTURE EX GIRLFRIEND
I’M SORRY
#1 FAN
WHERE’S THE GIRL
SEE YOU IN HELL
BACHELOR(ETTE)
HELLO CRUEL WORLD
IRRESPONSIBLE
THE VAMPIRE CLUB
BRAINS!
GRAVEYARD PICNIC
…ABOUT A GIRL
LET IT GO
CAUGHT A LITTLE SNEEZE

http://www.voltaire.net
http://www.projekt.com
 
 

The Alchemists
27 Tracks of Total Guitar Wizardry
~reviewed by Eric Rasmussen

The real challenge of reviewing a two disc compilation with 27 different guitarists is making sure I give you some idea of what to expect from each and every artist. To that effect, I've devised a few vague and perplexing categories to lump the artists into. Enjoy!

The Weird:

"The Weird" is my favorite genre. Not coincidentally, it features two of my favorite guitarists, Bumblefoot and Joboj. These two nut-jobs are havin' a grand old time being their usual wacky-selves and subjecting listeners to abnormal but highly creative music. If you're into honest, emotional performances, particularly those by potential mental patients, you'll dig the work of Bumblefoot and Joboj. These two songs stand out on the compilation and should interest wacky guitar fans. Also be sure to check out their mp3.com pages at www.mp3.com/bumblefoot and www.mp3.com/joboj

Jazz/fusion:

The jazz/fusion category is a bit less nutty, but creative all the same. Brett Garsed's excellent jazzy tune, "Bad Luck Go Away," is one of my favorite songs on the CD. He has a distinct sound, and all fusion fans should give him a listen. Richard Hallebeek and Derryl Gabel provide more traditional fusion sounds, and Magnus Olsson does mostly the same, though he does inject some innovative melodies into his song. Guitar Techniques columnist and guitar guru Gunthrie Govan gets downright funky in "Fives," an excellent technical track. Cyril Achard contributes the only all acoustic song on the CD, and it's quite a good song at that - very much in the vein of Al Di Meola without sounding redundant.

Tasteful:

Ok, ok... so you might think that, by implication, anyone who doesn't make this category must not be tasteful. That isn't my intent. I'm merely trying to describe the kind of soloing that could fit on a good Pink Floyd record, with a laid back bluesy-rock feel, strong melodies, and a heap of emotional power. Scott Stine, Dave Kilminster, Milan Polak, and Vladimir Korovin each provide passionate songs that speak volumes without vocals or lyrics. Phi Yaan-Zek is the most playful of the bunch, incorporating a variety of odd rhythms and peculiar sounds in a decidedly upbeat way. Stefan Rosqvist and Lyle Workman each built a song around memorable, transforming themes. If guitarists ever break into the movie soundtrack business, this is the kind of sound you'll hear. Lyle Workman's song clocks in at an epic 9 minutes and is the most peaceful cut on the compilation.

Rockin':

This is another vague way to describe some of the compilation's guitarists, but damn it, it works. The guitarists who fall into this category can bust a groove and get you shakin' like there's no tomorrow. Terry Syrek, Dave Martone, and Rob Johnson have the most rockin' tracks to be found on The Alchemists. These emotionally charged pieces are played with great vigor. Joy Basu plays a similarly groovy tune, "Phase 4," but it incorporates a techno backbeat and thumpy bass - not your usual instrumental guitar sound. It's about time someone listened to techno and thought "hey, I could solo over that."

Neo-classical:

Finally, we've got the neo-classical genre. Mario Parga and Marc Pattison play the most Yngwie-like pieces on the whole CD, and admittedly they sound a bit stale. Stephan Forte and Rusty Cooley take slightly more imaginative approaches, and Stephen Ross begins with a neo-classical piece that abruptly morphs into a country sound. Midway through the song he began channeling the spirit of Chet Atkins through some unknown magic. Richard Daude takes a traditional guitar hero sound and works in neat rhythms and percussion, and Scott Hughes plays what you might expect to hear at a renaissance faire. Finally, Todd Duane plays an excellent song with memorable themes, unexpected fills, and intense soloing - a definite highlight of The Alchemists.

I'm simplifying matters a great deal, and no artist on the compilation rigidly fits into any one category. Nevertheless, this is the most efficient way to sum things up and give you some insight into what you can expect from each guitarist.

Virtually every guitarist wrote a paragraph about the song they sent in to the compilation. Some of them sound less than inspired. These guitarists often sound detached and rather like: "Yeah, so I recorded this song because I could. It has guitar in it and fast solos." Then you've got Joboj, who candidly admits: "This is what happens when you take too much Nyquil." Some of the best pieces were done by the people who are concerned with really communicating on the guitar. The Alchemists does have its ups and downs, but at the end of the day, there's simply no better compilation to fulfill all of your crazy guitar needs. If you have any interest in instrumental guitar, definitely check out the compilation and get introduced to some of today's top artists.

As a final note, be sure to visit Liquid Note Records' web page for more information on the artists, including links to their websites.

Track list:
Disc 1:
1) Richard Daude "Dark Ages"
2) Guthrie Govan "Fives"
3) Terry Syrek "Ritual Dance At The Foot Of The..."
4) Stephen Ross "Schrodinger's Cat"
5) Richard Hallebeek "Seasons"
6) Todd Duane "The Rain"
7) Marc Pattison "Crash & Burn"
8) David Martone "Waht The Hell!"
9) Scott Hughes "Common Ground"
10) Magnus Olsson "Whatever It May Be"
11) Bumblefoot "Mafalda"
12) Phi Yaan-Zek "Out In The Boonies"
13) Lyle Workman "Rising Of The Mourning Son"
14) Milan Polak "Sometimes I Still Miss You"

Disc 2:
1) Mario Parga "Valse Diabolique"
2) Derryl Gabel "Tell Me"
3) Joboj "Screaming Chicken"
4) Stefan Rosqvist "Neverland"
5) Scott Stine "Day Off"
6) Joy Basu "Phase 4"
7) Dave Kilminster "If The Moon..."
8) Rusty Cooley "War Of The Angels"
9) Cyril Achard "Barock"
10) Brett Garsed "Bad Luck Go Away"
11) Rob Johnson "Super Charged"
12) Stephan Forte "The Prophecies Of Loki"
13) Vladimir Korovin "Olga"

Liquid Note Records:
http://www.liquidnoterecords.co.uk/

US listeners, pick up a copy at:
http://www.guitar9.com/thealchemists.html
 

Various Artists
Cryonica Tanz V.2 (Cryonica)
~reviewed by Uncle Nemesis

Cryonica is a London-based label run by Reza and Alexys of UK industrial-stompers Inertia. It's a classic punk-ethos DIY venture,  which  releases material by Inertia and other bands in the  industrial/electronica area. The ever-growing label roster now includes Fiction 8, Razed In Black, and Spahn Ranch, among others. Cryonica also runs a London club, Hard Drive, promotes live shows, and offers recording facilities to anyone who needs a bit of studio time. All this, and the clueless suits of the music industry don't get anywhere near it. These days, when the word 'alternative' has been rendered meaningless by over-use (we're expected to believe it's a musical style played by mainstream rock bands like Oasis now) it's encouraging to see this sort of stuff happening - because this kind of activity represents the *real* alternative.

One of the label's on-going projects is the release of the 'Cryonica Tanz' series of compilation albums. These are put together in association with Belgium's Side-Line magazine, and are intended to focus attention on the new music coming out of the electronic area. The second of these compilations was released in 2002, and it's a mighty double-CD package featuring 31 different artists from around the world. If you're looking for a one-stop guide to the rumblings of today's electro-underground, this is about as comprehensive as it gets.

If I was to attempt mini-reviews of all 31 tracks, we'd be here all night, so here come some edited excerpts...

To open the proceedings, Massiv In Mensch deliver a slick, crisply-produced almost-instrumental. The only vocals are the band name, repeated at intervals in an implacable German accent. In this genre, it's undeniably helpful to have an implacable German accent! The track builds to a heavy-duty, percussive workout: I'm sure it's causing dancefloors to seethe all over Europe even as I type. Second track in comes from Nebula-H , who give us 'Twilight Zone'. This kicks off with a blend of spooky sci-fi
samples, but settles down to a fairly standard EBM track with a half-whispered, half vocodered vocal. It's a decent enough example of the genre, but I remember the likes of Nitzer Ebb doing stuff like this back in the 80s. Electronic music isn't new any more: it's got a history behind it, and sometimes I hear more of the past than the future in the stuff that's being produced today.

Speaking of the past, it's been a while since we've heard anything from Cubanate. They were on a roll in the mid-90s, selling out gigs all over the place with their full-on thrashy-guitar mayhem, grabbing press coverage, and generally powering ahead. It looked like they were going to get right up there with Ministry, but...they didn't. A rather ill-advised excursion into drum 'n' bass was followed by a protracted hiatus, during which Cubanate's main man, Marc Heal, seemed more interested in flitting from one side-project to another than pushing his own band forward. However, Cubanate re-emerge on this album with a new track, 'React To It'. It's a return to the old-skool sound. Rasped-out vocals over a thumping beat, and then great slabs of guitar slammed down over everything. Undeniably, this is what Cubanate do best. It's nice to hear this style again, although I'm struck by the thought that if you've got the band's 1995 album 'Cyberia' you've probably got the definitive collection of this kind of stuff. The trick Cubanate are trying for, I suppose, is to push the music forward without throwing the essential identity of the band out of the window. I don't think they've quite found that point of balance yet...but I'll stay tuned.

Seabound slink into our ears with 'Smoke' - a loping, mid-tempo number which features a rather nice, warm, cinematic synth break in the middle. The track is billed as the 'Pain Remix', but as I've never heard the original I can't tell you whether the remix is an improvement, or whether it pushes the music in a new direction, or what. This is a point which I can make in relation to the album as a whole: of the 31 tracks,  20 are remixes of one sort or another. That's not necessarily a great idea, because unless you're familiar with the original versions, it's impossible to figure out how much of what you're hearing is the artist's real sound, and how much of it was contributed by the remixer. GASR's 'New Society' is here as a 'Flesh Field mix', and it's actually rather good. A big, big, sound, with everything including the kitchen sink thrown into the production - but how much of this is GASR, and how much of it is Flesh Field? For all I know, the original tune might've been a weedy little thing! In the case of Inertia's 'Bodynoise', which is featured here as a 'Club attack mix', I'm familiar with the original, so I can judge how the original/remix balance has been struck. The remixed version drops elements out of the original, so we end up with weird, minimal, stop-start breaks and a more staccato sound overall. Paradoxically, I think the original (on Inertia's 'Advanced Revelation' album) has more of a club attack than the remix.

After Inertia, two more Cryonica-label bands are showcased. The Nine, who are Depeche Mode-style synthpoppers in their, uh, natural habitat, contribute 'Control' which here has been given the 'Bombay Bad Boy' remix treatment. I suspect the Bombay Bad Boy is Reza of Inertia, because the tune does appear to have been Inertia'd-up, as it were. It's a fast, groovy little number, which is slightly unusual in this company in that it has a sung vocal, instead of a genre-specific chant. If synthpop is your bag, this is worth your attention. Razed In Black follow swiftly on, and they also have a real singer on board. For all its relentless backbeat, 'Share The Poison' is very definitely a *song*, rather than simply an excursion into functional dancefloor dynamics. The track is 'extended', but otherwise untouched. If this is a good example of Razed In Black's sound, it demonstrates some interesting musical ideas: the song mashes up house-y piano with a big, rifferama rock-guitar sound, and even features a Giorgio Moroder synth-break just before the chorus comes back for the big finish. I like the band's 'throw it all in!' approach: somehow they incorporate all these sounds and influences into a package that works.

Second CD of the package opens up with Neikka RPM's 'Here's Your Revolution', which is probably my favourite track here. It's got a good old walloping, vintage Front 242 beat to it, over which deep, dark, electronic burbles appear like gas bubbling up through mud. A female voice - itself an unusual element in a genre which often seems to be almost exclusively a boys' thing - alternately sings a a lilting vocal line and whispers strange somethings in our ears. Cool stuff, and much more distinctive than a lot of the music in this area. Next up, Railgun's 'Scarab' is an instrumental, but holds my attention with a fat, fuzzy riff, and a break of rattling percussion that gives the track an almost military feel. Not, perhaps, the kind of stuff that pushes musical limits, but nicely done.

The Retrosic provide the third track in, with 'Ground Zero'. Now, this is probably my *least* favourite track on this compilation. The music is a workmanlike stompalong which is effective enough without exhibiting any real imagination or ideas, and the vocal is nothing more than the standard, identikit, will-this-do distorted chant. I've heard this sort of tedious, churned-out stuff  far too many times to be impressed, and frankly I find it difficult to tell the difference between the various bands who do it. God Module, who I saw recently in Chicago, make exactly this kind of noise - yep, even down to the little synth-line dancing over the beat - and if you told me that this track was by God Module, I'd believe you. No individuality, no identity, no ideas - just the same old distort-o-effect, and the same old 'Hey, I'm really angry, me!' shouty-shouty vocals. Could be any of several bands in this uniquely dull little sub-generic corner. Maybe a remix would've injected a bit of interest, but ironically this is one of the few tracks here which hasn't been so treated.

Stromkern trip me up with 'Terrorist', which sounds more like a slice of punk than anything derived from the electro scene - the vocal, a fast, assertive, tongue-twister, reminds me of something Henry Rollins might do. The 'Don't mess with me' feel is right up our Henry's alley. An electronic track you can play to your Black Flag-fan punker mates - and I'll bet they'll like it. Interestingly, this is an Epsilon Minus remix. I'm not sure what they've done to the track - it seems so musically minimal there surely wasn't much to remix in the first place. Maybe it was a ballad before they got their hands on it!

We shall gloss over 'Final Rebellion' by ESR, which has a not-bad trancey feel to the music, but then ruins it all with another tedious, unimaginative, chant-through-a-distortion-effect vocal, and move on to track 7, where Epsilon Minus make an an appearance in their own right. I first encountered Epsilon Minus only recently via the 'Square Matrix' sampler from their Belgian label, Alfa-Matrix. On that release, the music was filtered through other people's remixes, but the identity of the band cut through sufficiently to intrigue me and make me want to hear more. Well, here is some more: 'Antigravity' is the song they've contributed to Cryonica's compilation - but, frustratingly, it's another remix. This time, Epsilon Minus are filtered through Implant, and again I'm left wondering who is responsible for which bits of the sound. There's a constant, dominant, 'Whomp, whomp, whomp' kick-drum sound running through the track - it's so upfront it frankly starts to drive me up the wall after a while. I suspect the vocals have been chopped down somewhat: I get the impression 'Antigravity' started life as a *song*, but has been remixed into a *track*, if that makes sense. Still, there's enough here to maintain my interest: Jennifer Parkin's voice has a marvellously dry, offhand feel (she can do the best 'Yeah' I've heard since I last went to a Lydia Lunch gig) and although I wish the band had been given the opportunity to showcase their own sound, rather than someone else's version of it, 'Antigravity' still gets the thumbs up from me.

'I Believe' by Kontinuum sounds like a slice of Boystown, with cheesy 80s synths and a bounce-around beat. The vocalist has a deadpan accent, carefully enunciating the lyrics while excitable, squeaky synths leap around like performing mice. It makes me think of those delightfully camp disco songs Divine used to do in the 80s - and the best thing is, I'm sure Kontinuum are entirely serious about their music. I'm willing to bet they don't realise they've produced a glorious slice of retro-disco. Someone should sit them down and make them listen to Divine's 'Shake It Up', or even 'Where Is My Man?' by Eartha Kitt. I like this, but I suspect for reasons Kontinuum most certainly didn't intend!

The Galan Pixs have their 'Acid Anger Again' remixed by C-Base, and again I'm afraid it's one of those mixes where the true identity of the band is submerged under someone else's idea of What The Dancefloor Wants. The Pixs are a quirky bunch, complete with a skirt-wearing guitarist and a drummer who does amazing things with a kick and a snare and a hi-hat...and nothing else. Here, unfortunately, they've been turned into a production-line synthpop outfit, and it doesn't do them justice. Nice bassline, mind, but the band themselves are more interesting than this remix. Idiot Stare supply 'Ghost', unremixed and in its natural state, and it's rather good. Lyrics about freeways and hotel rooms, a dry male vocal, a rhythm that strides along and chorus that steps up and up: it's almost as if Daniel Ash had decided to turn one of his rock 'n' roll lifestyle songs into an electro experience. Yes, this is quality stuff. This'll be one of the tracks on this compilation that I'll keep coming back to, I'm sure.

We'll fast-forward towards the end now, and lend an ear to Fiction 8's 'Sister Illusion', a remixed version which lends the track a distinct touch of menace. The vocals in the verse are essentially chanted/spoken, which is a bit of a let-down, but fortunately there's a take-it-to-the-max chorus which redeems things somewhat. 'Copperhead' by Aghast View is...well, see my thoughts on 'Ground Zero' by The Retrosic! Same applies. 'Nuff said. And then, holding down the wrap-up spot, track 31 comes to us from another of Cryonica's own acts, Void Construct. The subliminal mix of 'Disconnected' has some nice chiming synths over the rolling beat, but the vocals are, yet again, that personality-free distorted chant - this time further back in the mix than is usual with this sort of stuff. I suppose this counts as radical progression in the distort-o-voice zone, or maybe that's what's supposed to be 'subliminal' about this mix. Again, I can only refer you back to my notes on The Retrosic's track. Because all these distorted vocals sound the same, there's no point in me trying to write different reviews every time one of 'em comes up. Sorry, but it's all just rather uninspired and uninspiring to me. Hey, all you bands who think a distortion effect on the vocal represents cutting-edge industrial-scene creativity - I'm here to tell you it's about time you had another idea!

So, not the greatest way to finish off the compilation, then - and overall I feel that this strange obsession with remixes, remixes and yet more remixes often blocks the bands themselves from coming through and establishing their own identities. But remixes seem to be what drives the electro-genre these days, and it would probably take a brave band to make a stand against it, especially if it means telling their record label where to go! For all that, there's good stuff here, and if you want a one-stop catch-up on what's what in the electronic world, this album will do the business - and will also introduce you to a few cool bands whose music would repay further investigation.

Full tracklisting:
[Note: The Cryonica label site does not give links for the bands featured on the album. Therefore, the links which appear below are the results of extensive Googling around the web on the part of your long-suffering reviewer. StarVox is pleased to offer you this exclusive resource at no extra charge.]

CD1:
Massiv In Mensch Featuring George Salatic: Massiv In Mensch  http://www.massiv-in-mensch.de
Nebula-H: Twighlight Zone  http://www.nebula-h.be
Cubanate: React To It  http://www.cubanate.co.uk
Interlace: Soul Of A New Machine (Cropped club edit)  http://www.designforanewbreed.com
Seabound: Smoke (Pain remix)  http://www.seabound.de
Colony 5: Crackhead (remix)  http://www.colony5.com
Aiboforcen: Give Me These Wings (Club mix)  http://www.alfa-matrix.com/aiboforcen
GASR: New Society (Flesh Field mix) http://www.angelfire.com/ma2/gasr/contact.html
Inertia: Bodynoise (Club attack mix) http://www.inertia.gs
Cesium 137: Regrets (Closure mix by Simulator) http://www.cesium137.com
Cruciform Injection: Masticating Swarm http://www.cruciforminjection.com
The Nine: Control (The Bombay bad boy mix)  http://www.thenine.freeserve.co.uk
Razed In Black: Share This Poison (Extended) http://www.razedinblack.net
Implant: Breezer  http://www.implant.cc
V2A: Rhythmus (Death machine mix) http://www.v2a.co.uk
Solitary Experiments: God, where are you (Tanz der holle mix)  http://www.solitaryexperiments.de

CD2:
Neikka RPM: Here's Your Revolution http://www.neikkarpm.com
Railgun: Scarab  http://www.atomick.net/railgun
The Retrosic: Ground Zero  http://www.retrosic.com
Stromkern: Terrorist (Epsilon Minus mix) http://www.stromkern.com
ESR: Final Rebellion: (Insurrectional mix)  http://esyr.free.fr
Headscan: Components: (Aekt remix) http://www.headscan.net
Epsilon Minus: Antigravity (Implant mix) http://www.epsilonminus.com
Kontinuum: I Believe (Radio edit) http://www.kontinuum-music.com
The Galan Pixs: Acid Anger Again (C-Base mix)  http://www.thegalanpixs.de
Tone Generation: Arms [If they have a website, it's well hidden...]
Emergenz featuring Melotron: Vergassen Ist Suhne  http://www.musik-online.com/emergenz
Idiot Stare: Ghost  http://www.idiotstare.com
Fiction 8: Sister Illusion (remix) http://www.fiction8.com
Aghast View: Copperhead (Radio edit) http://www.geocities.com/phaseknox
Void Construct: Disconnected (Subliminal mix)  http://www.voidconstruct.com

Cryonica label site:  http://www.cryonica.com

Reviewed by Uncle Nemesis:  http://www.nemesis.to

VARIOUS ARTISTS
PROJEKT: Gothic
~reviewed by Mick Mercer

It’s funny how people moan isn’t it? In America a lot of those supposedly in the Know frown upon Hot Topic, and yet if they lived in the UK they wouldn’t dream of such antics. Similarly there are some people who draw back from Projekt thinking it all a bit fey, a touch off the beaten track if you’re into the harder side of things. Well, your tastes will change and you will come to see more beauty in it, so why would you want to totally avoid it? Projekt has none of gauche methods of Cleopatra can be equally businesslike. The difference is that they’re the label 4AD never really became.

And what a delightful compilation this is. Granted, having Unto Ashes dredge up ‘Fear The Reaper’ is a bit weird, but they just do the quiet bits, quieter. It’s also peculiar how the floatiness of Rajna just seems to zip by, and if you think Attrition might seem a bit brusque here they’re devious and lovingly sedate, but still edgy.

It’s quality through and through, with a stunning Black tape song, some hushed warmth for the undervalued Thanatos, welcome (old school) fatigue from Lycia, a swirling, tortured vignette from Human Drama and some bracing, chilled imagery from Audra and is it a little bit Bauhaus? Well, yes. Voltaire conjures up more dramatic froth, over some brilliantly pained violin, Mors Syphilitica’s Eastern Ethereal is splendour personified, and Lovespirals have a sense of fully completed beauty about them.

Specially commissioned by Hot Topic this goes out for $4.99, which is mind-boggling, and it’s worth that just for the beautifully damp, mildewed cooing of Mira or the mysterious quavering misery of This Ascension.

Essential.

AUDRA – What Your Eyes Had Seen
VOLTAIRE – When You’re Evil
THIS ASCENSION – Mysterium
BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL – All My Lovers
ATTRITION – A Girl Called Harmony
MORS SYPHILITICA – My Virgin Widows
LYCIA – Excade Decade Decada
MIRA – Cayman
THANATOS – Splinters
HUMAN DRAMA – Lonely
RAJNA - Rajna
LOVESPIRALS – Swollen Sea
UNTO ASHES – Fear The Reaper

http://www.projekt.com