Many reviewers associated Northern Sadness' style to the one by Sisters Of Mercy, an association which sounds like a pique on Andrew Eldritch's band as even if SOM took part to the most important festivals of the scene, such as M'era Luna, they repeatdly tried to discourage any possible link with Goth movement and they tried to reach this goal even with contractual clauses. Such a clarification doesn't want to belittle what these Belgian musicians - singer Koen De Brabander, former member of Dead Poets, and bassplayer Philippe Lefief - bring about to the scene, even if many songs could remember a period of SOM's production, the one when Eldritch (and Doktor Avalanche of course, id est the notorious nickname given to drum machines, which were so important that Mr Eldritch considered it like a person!) supposedly was influenced by bassplayer Patricia Morrison, the most "unguitared" one of SOM history, coinciding with the issue of Floodland, but their decision to record an electronic dance cover of their fellow citizens Red Zebra (hailing from Bruges, a lovely Flemish city, whose notorious Stadsschouwburg Theater also known as La Bonbonniere for its red and gold seats - I think it's that at least! - has been picked up by Northern Sadness as the ideal setting for artwork), which are considered one of the most influential post-punk and new wave band of Belgian scene gives a more precise outline to their sound. Although many tracks are not real gems as their dynamics could sound too bare - but it's better repeat that it is a peculiarity of this genre -. there are some interesting moments, such as the hypnotic stepping of "All This Noise", the juicy minimal synth of "Out Of Mind" (a really good darkwave song), the bittersweet uptempo mood of "2nd Hand Girl" (imagine Visage's atmospheres dressed with electro acid brine), the sticky bassline of "Hollow Eyes", which recalled to my memory some stuff by Clock DVA and Vomito Negro, and the obscure atmospheres of the final "Poets And Angels".