Deathstars

Night Electric Night

Written by: NB on 27/03/2009 21:07:31

When I was given this album to review I was instructed to give it a sound bashing, and that is what I intended to do. I too was put off by their ridiculous appearance and studious efforts to grow a cult following, mainly amongst teenage girls (or boys, it's hard to tell with their emo/gothic cohort of fans). The trouble is that, aside from the aesthetic stuff seeming to be far more important to them than the music and the fact that they are essentially a pop act, their songs aren't that bad.

The band consists of a silly man straining to create the deepest singing a human can make surrounded by four, gothic catwalk-models who supply the music. The simplistic drum beats have an air of dance music. Over the top of this is the most superficial of metal guitar work (the intro to "Venus in Arms" honestly doesn't sound like it is going to turn into a metal track), then yet more dance ambiance is added with a keyboard layer which is very prevalent in the mix. All the songs follow roughly the same formula: There's always a short, synth intro before the drums and guitars kick in. After that a brief verse where "Whiplasher" Bernadotte's deep growl mutters some gothic nonsense about death and night with answering whispers and screams by "Skinny Disco". Then after a few choruses there is invariably a quiet refrain before the last chorus, just like in the previous two albums. A new feature of this album, however, is the addition of some female choral lines in songs such as "Blood Stains Blondes" which only serve to make the whole thing more like dance music!

On the other hand, dance music is catchy. It has already been established by bands like Enter Shikari and even more so by And Then There Were None that dance fuses well with rock and punk. How can this be made even better? Replace that boring punk/rock with metal, of course! Therefore I must apologize everyone. As with their previous record, I tried to hate it but I've failed. I will go to the doctor immediately because there is clearly a tiny, trendy, gothic crowd-follower trapped in my head. You should give this album a chance though; you might find there is one trapped in yours too.

6

Download: Night Electric Night, Blood Stains Blondes
For The Fans Of: Gothminister, Deadstar Assembly, Dope Stars Inc. , Mortiis
Listen: MySpace

Release Date 30.01.2009
Nuclear Blast

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