So, I was perusing some year-end lists here and there, to see (or be reminded of) what I missed...I came across a few interesting things. For this post, I wanted to highlight three albums that I've enjoyed a fair bit over the last few days:
The common thing is that they are all female-fronted band...and all decidedly non-metal. While different sounding, they all have this enticing, slightly dark post-punk undertones...
Going left to right...the poppiest is definitely the Darkswoon record, with the programmed drums and percussions, the synth-y sound and the subdued guitars. Great vocals, and really cool sound. Some stuff is very laid back and downright pretty (Spellcast), other songs have a bit more tension in them (Under Glass has "dirtier" guitars, before opening up to a purely 80s-sounding fest, and This is a Void starts out as early Killing Joke jamming with Siouxsie and the Banshees). Burn Collector is a great, slow-burning closer.
Moving on, Secret Shame's Autonomy is the hardest rocking of the three. The guitars are definitely more upfront and the instrumentation is more traditionally "rock". Some songs sound like The Cranberries if they had listened to more The Cure and shoegazey stuff (the opener Hide, for example). Some other tunes are deliciously goth-y...either more relaxed (Saccharine Dream...so, so good), or more urgent (Persephone). Again, the vocals are a highlight...sometimes I feel, in this genre, singers try a little too hard to be "edgy". Not so here. They are just very, very good.
Veldune is the weirdest of the three. My understanding is that the band was put together by Kevin Hufnagel (guitars in Gorguts (!) and Dysrhythmia) with singer Jamie Myers (Hammers of Misfortune, among others), so "weird" is not surprising here
Very laid back, nocturnal sound with (again) real nice vocals. At times the record sounds like a more relaxed Siouxsie and the Banshees (the opener The Night is for Dreamers). The guitars are mostly clean, and they provide all sorts of interesting textures, with arpeggios and little solos here and there. The playing gets almost jazz-y sometimes (The Road Ahead). The drumming and percussion work is great too - not flashy, but very cool. Favorite song might be Chasing Down the Sun. Great tune, with the singer channeling some Stevie Nicks (to my ears, at least).
Anyway, something a little different...curious to see if some of the good people on DTF have heard any of this.
Topic: What album are you listening to? v.7 (Read 178722 times)
