![]() The textures here are superb, guitar and bass stabs hovering at the fringes, punctuating the start of each phrases rather than getting too involved the drums, too, keep a lid on things, resulting in Chibi sounding at times almost perilously unsupported. ![]() A momentarily soft introduction in “Always” gives way in no time to towering synth chords and a driving pulse, from which emerges another song torn between delicacy and fortitude. It’s an interesting dichotomy if anything, the melodic line smacks of ballad (albeit one with determination and weight), while the underlay seems more concerned with keeping things moving along all is united in the chorus, however, when the gentleness of the tune is revealed to be uncertainty and fear: ‘I’m in the dark/I’m alone around you/I’ve never been here before/Nobody here to get me through’. Opening track “In The Dark” shows the group are prepared to take their time, the song fixed in a relaxed 6/8 metre, vocalist Chibi’s melody swaying over the bass-heavy grungey riffs that keep the song heavily rooted to the ground. Whereas Evanescence hit the ground running, producing outstanding work from their first single onwards, The Birthday Massacre have taken numerous releases over no less than a decade to reach a place of maturity, the latest and most outstanding example of which is their new album, released a few days ago, Pins and Needles. For some years, Evanescence provided my fix in this area, but their focus was lost long, long ago, and their place in my affections has been supplanted by Canada’s most splendidly purple goth-synth-rock group, The Birthday Massacre. Such music’s just as capable of factory-line posing as its more raw, guitar-driven cousin, of course, but it does give the music, at least, a veneer of novelty, while at best, produces some of the most exciting rock around. While the majority of contemporary rock-regardless of what prefix it’s given-tends to pass me by as so much generic, posturing fluff, inject a healthy, industrial-strength jolt of electronics through it, and i’m very much more inclined to sit up and pay attention.
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