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REVIEWS
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In the Dark
In Ruins
Elements of Chance
Signals
Blind-Spots
Imitation / Imagination
My Fever
Hypnagogia
In the Dark (reprise)
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REVIEWS
Black Ice
Myopia
Hungry Eye Records
Posted: Wednesday, September 12, 2007
By: Vlad McNeally
By: Vlad McNeally
A caterwauling slice of gothic art-rock, Black Ice's Myopia is a fever-fueled nightmare of banshee vocals, dissonant guitars, and graveyard atmospheres.
If I could pinpoint my issue with the fading boom of artists who claim to have both hands on the post-punk reins to a singularity, it would be the fact that many of them play it too safe. Name-checking Joy Division and mastering their rather rudimentary chord structures is one thing, but the atmosphere, the emotion isn't the same. Black Ice is certainly not one of those bands; though at times this female-fronted quintet resembles Siouxsie and the Banshees, it is like they pine to relive that act's darkest and most obscure moments.
Black Ice sound like they could be commercially viable, if that was their aim, but their scope is way too macabre, too sinister to ever sink its teeth into mass appeal. Reminiscent of another grim art-rock act, The Vanishing, "In Ruins" is a shambling spine-tingling dirge. Upon meaty bass guitar feet, it stumbles forward at a lecherous, grumbling gait, while nerve-stabbing synths prick at one's ears like electric organ ice picks. Somewhere, snares explode like gunfire aimed at taking down this beast. Their ringleader, Miss Kel contributes a verbal tangle that at times reminds of Bauhaus at their most calculating and accusing, and at others, gurgles and shrieks as if drowning in pure manic emotion. "Signals" haunts its five minute expanse as if stuck in an eternal spectral waltz. With the leisurely speed of the undead, its snare and bass drum slide through its arrangement, crisp and dusty like a ghost, while guitar warbles damp, taut, and nasal. Here, Kel's vocals are caught between a dirge and a croon, ebbing from a cabaret wail to a banshee howl. Edward Gorey's animated contributions to the venerable Mystery television show pepper my opinions on "Elements of Chance;" a brassy, flanged guitar circles, puzzling over in its mind a murder, while cheap drum machine snares chew on a cardboard clockwork loop. As before, Miss Kel finds here a blend of tension and melodrama, easing seamlessly between breathy passages and wavering, dread-filled theater. Finally, there is the appropriately dubbed "In the Dark," where Kel croons in a bleary soprano, her presence hanging like fog upon its plodding percussion moors. Guitars here are a mere texture, whining and dissonant, while bass guitar thrums so morosely it's as if it is walking in syrup.
Even the disc's art resembles something akin to Gorey's famed illustrations - a faded, paper and black sentiment that resides within the music as well. To paint a second simile, Myopia is like a tortured, off-kilter, carnival ride through a graveyard - a fun experience for those who seek this sort of thing out, but also something that could frighten or puzzle the casual listener. Certainly, fans of the less commercial strains of modern deathrock will devour this release, for it falls in the same niche as not only The Vanishing, but also Cinema Strange, and even comparisons to elder acts like The Virgin Prunes and Xmal Deutschland would not be entirely incorrect. While there are a few spotty moments, like the rippling, vocally incomprehensible "Hypnagogia," this is quite a solid release that proves there is still room to breathe in the terrain of cinematic gothic music.
Black Ice sound like they could be commercially viable, if that was their aim, but their scope is way too macabre, too sinister to ever sink its teeth into mass appeal. Reminiscent of another grim art-rock act, The Vanishing, "In Ruins" is a shambling spine-tingling dirge. Upon meaty bass guitar feet, it stumbles forward at a lecherous, grumbling gait, while nerve-stabbing synths prick at one's ears like electric organ ice picks. Somewhere, snares explode like gunfire aimed at taking down this beast. Their ringleader, Miss Kel contributes a verbal tangle that at times reminds of Bauhaus at their most calculating and accusing, and at others, gurgles and shrieks as if drowning in pure manic emotion. "Signals" haunts its five minute expanse as if stuck in an eternal spectral waltz. With the leisurely speed of the undead, its snare and bass drum slide through its arrangement, crisp and dusty like a ghost, while guitar warbles damp, taut, and nasal. Here, Kel's vocals are caught between a dirge and a croon, ebbing from a cabaret wail to a banshee howl. Edward Gorey's animated contributions to the venerable Mystery television show pepper my opinions on "Elements of Chance;" a brassy, flanged guitar circles, puzzling over in its mind a murder, while cheap drum machine snares chew on a cardboard clockwork loop. As before, Miss Kel finds here a blend of tension and melodrama, easing seamlessly between breathy passages and wavering, dread-filled theater. Finally, there is the appropriately dubbed "In the Dark," where Kel croons in a bleary soprano, her presence hanging like fog upon its plodding percussion moors. Guitars here are a mere texture, whining and dissonant, while bass guitar thrums so morosely it's as if it is walking in syrup.
Even the disc's art resembles something akin to Gorey's famed illustrations - a faded, paper and black sentiment that resides within the music as well. To paint a second simile, Myopia is like a tortured, off-kilter, carnival ride through a graveyard - a fun experience for those who seek this sort of thing out, but also something that could frighten or puzzle the casual listener. Certainly, fans of the less commercial strains of modern deathrock will devour this release, for it falls in the same niche as not only The Vanishing, but also Cinema Strange, and even comparisons to elder acts like The Virgin Prunes and Xmal Deutschland would not be entirely incorrect. While there are a few spotty moments, like the rippling, vocally incomprehensible "Hypnagogia," this is quite a solid release that proves there is still room to breathe in the terrain of cinematic gothic music.
