Poisonblack-"Escapexstacy" Goth metal/rock project from the vocalist of Sentenced (who in turn has a good bit of heavy goth sound to them), running a line between early Paradise Lost ala ?Icon’ and early Type O Negative a bit ala "Origins Of The Feces" (and women go gaga for Peter Steel after a title like that. Go fig!). The vocalist sounds very classically trained and quite bassy, singing along with dark organ lines and goth rock guitars alongside. My favorite track would be "The Exciter" with it’s smooth combo of groovy goth metal and cleverly placed synth lines contrasting it. The CD could stand to be a bit longer but it does stand pretty solid, especially in a field of cookie cutter Norwegian goth metal bands. Rating: 9.

Artica-"Ombra E Luce" Debut CD from this legendary Italian goth rock group, though I understand not one word they are saying since it’s all Italian. But the sound is tight though. The atmosphere of slowed chainsaw guitars and lower C chord riffing, with rolling Italian lyrics and a vocalist who sings every bit as sepulchral as Carl McCoy (though he sounds dead in a good way), this CD is both creepy and melancholy at the same time. And I read a little bit of the translated lyrics the band sent me, and they are quite poetic. They build up a atmosphere of WHY they adore that person so much in poetic detail and then both condemn and beg to them on the first song. That versus many bands who just whine with no particular target or reason, like they are just filling in song space. The CD as a whole has that classic goth rock type roll we all know and love so much, yet these guys seem to have a healthy deathrock influence as well, giving back to Joy Division as much as they do Christian Death. Easily one of the best goth rock CD’s I’ve seen in quite a while, bringing back the old school style of it minus any electronic baggage. These guys don’t need keyboards to make their atmospheres, believe me. Rating:10

Project Pitchfork for some time has been one of my all time favorite bands, with their powerful mixture of gothic, industrial, electro and classical rhythms intertwined, and their powerful Nietzchian lyrics ala ?Thus Spoke Zarathustra". Add to that Peter Spille’s dynamic voice and complete control over the muse, and you have a band that is destined for greatness. And has achieved in the process excellence. Every release around my house from PP is a holy event, as friends of mine found out. And this is the one group who gave me strength in their lyrics when I first moved out on my own and had some incredible struggles, inner and external.
This is a part of a trilogy, covering the whole cache of their complex philosophy. I am yet to sit and read the text on the meaning (and it’s all in German), so I’ll let you figure that one yourself later if I don’t put it up in the upcoming translation forum. Whereas CDs like "Chakra Red" tend to divert from philosophy to go into other areas like sex, this whole trilogy delves in it. And whereas "Eon Eon" tended to lack cohesion (though none the less a perfect CD to me), this CD flows, often without pause. And the classical playing shines through, both in the synth and electronic piano lines, along with Spille’s flowing stream of conscious Nietzchian lyrics coming along like a leaf in a crystal river. And even a bit of the occasional guitar on some tracks, which is most apparent on "I Am (A Thought In Slow Motion)" where the crunching guitar riff ascends into a short, Testament style power chord fest. My favorites on here are "(Mehr Als) Der Absprung" with it’s dreamy, plinking synth and piano lines back to back, with Spille’s enticing Hamburg German (the softest spoken of all the dialects), "Lead And Feather", "Souls In Ice" and "I Am". And no filler here as usual, nor is there any on any PP Cds I’ve seen thus far.
An absolute crowning achievement, to me their best since "Chakra Red" and their deepest one to date. With age they only get better, as their formula is based on experience and knowledge from eyes that constantly see and think. This is the band that shows us why we were given the gift of music in the first place, and are magical beyond words. And I can tell you this from experience, this group can easily help you in finding your purpose in life and show you a world with new eyes.

Rating: Project Pitchfork. That is all the rating it needs!

Also recommended are REC (hard as hell to find Spille’s project), Sun God, and Aurora/Aurora Sutra,esp. "Dimension Gate". All are PP side projects.

This is a project from ChainDLK member Donovan Tate, who was nice enough to send me a copy of his two tapes. The toting of combining Depeche Mode and Anything Box makes sense but to me the first track "Drive" reminds me of some of Clan Of Xymox’s older stuff, with the bassy reverb and slow drumline and synth following behind. As in other words, kinda dark but not overpowering the dreamy side of it. The second track, "Everything’s Blue" has a kind of trip hop side to the drums and a dreamy as hell vocalist (Demetra Tate), sounding half like Sade and half like the girl from Portishead a bit. I also like the woodwind effects put in the middle of the track as well (I may be wrong but I think it’s a synthesized recorder flute). Track 3," Echoes In The Dark Theme" (oh how I fucking hate band themes! KMFDM drove me nuts with that shit of yelling out their name again and again) is actually pretty good, kind of along the lines of older Xymox again, and that dreamy vocalist again at work. "Technology" brings up the Kraftwerkian vibe up with a touch of abstract elecro-trance, and the simple verse of "technology" looping. Then near the end breaks into a darker ambient piece, with the added atmosphere of echoed vocals looming overhead. "Feel" does bring that Anything Box feel that Donovan was telling me about too! Minus the sugary part of AB, though. That was AB’s charm but also it’s curse, it made me wonder if they had testicles or not! I love that group though and this comes very close to them. Only thing harming this tape is underproduction , but since they are an up and coming band, this is understandable. Given time and a better production slate their sound can reach a whole new potential. And their diversity is quite healthy too. And Demetra’s vocals are great too, just needs more songs that show off more vocal range, which will come. Rating:10

OLD MAN"S CHILD Most black metal bores the living shit out of me, hindered by the same things that bring death metal down: poor production, horrible grunts, players playing faster than they can keep up with and overall a Manowar sense of cheesiness. But every now and then comes ones that do get it right and pack some real musicianship with them. Tossing on the table cards like folk, industrial-gothic and some nicely laced classical, this is one of the few that does it right. They are one equal part metal and equal part all of those, much like their Portuguese pals to the west, Moonspell (though no body beats Moonspell’s daring in the metal scene in my book!). Even at the most brutal the elements of a very Das Ich type sound carry along side it, bringing to mind Das Ich’s run with Atrocity. And the presence of robotic vocals helps too as well. Brutality and divine classical dance together once again, bringing a sense of variety most black and death metal bands just talk about for ads. A band that will both stomp your ass while conducting symphonies at the same time! Rating:10 Also recommended of course is anything from Emperor, Samael and Nile, who all three brought black metal from it’s grave so to speak and added something beyond the corny ass Mayhem formula. Not to mention the super genius of Arcturus, who takes the classical, ambient and gothic orchestral element to the extreme.