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REVIEWS
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Terminal Dream
Dust
Send Me a Sign
Thru My Emotions
Time Will Tell
Circle of Blood
My Time Has Come
Wish
Never Mind
A Dying Flame
The Perception of Light
A Sense for This World
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REVIEWS
This Void Inside
Dust
Decadance Records
Posted: Friday, February 20, 2009
By: Vlad McNeally
By: Vlad McNeally
This catchy collection of romantic goth/electro/metal's major fault is that it seems all too familiar.
If one hasn't been keeping abreast of the current goth scene in Italy, there is one act that effectively acts as its figurehead - Dope Stars Inc. Victor Love and his crew are akin to HIM meeting Orgy in the back of Hot Topic, as their revival and popularization of the gothic/metal/inDustrial crossover has proven to be ultimately poppy and marketable. Like HIM, DSI's impact resulted in a slew of copycats, and while This Void Inside is at least graced by a minor appearance by Love himself, they are quite guilty of being just this sort of doppelganger.
While comparisons to DSI as well as HIM are utterly pertinent, Dust's 12 tracks are nearly as tightly written as some of the hits of their mentors. Take, for example, the heartfelt collaboration with Love, "Send Me a Sign;" opening with Dave Shadows' airy falsetto set against the hum and pluck of a string concerto, this overloaded nugget of buzzing guitars, emphatic drumming, and serene backing synths is a delightful replica of HIM at that band's most poppy. Even without the hand of Love, the power chord sentimentality of "A Dying Flame" is quite exquisite. From murky chugging verses to its uplifting synthizer-gilded chorus, Shadow pleas certainly feel heartfelt albeit familiar. Though they certainly excel at these rollicking "love metal" numbers, This Void Inside manages to forge some individualism within its slower numbers. Still wielding those distortion-laced riffs, "Time Will Tell" only uses them for emphasis during its power ballad chorus, allowing Shadow's strength as singer to shine with only a few shards of synth and a weighty piano to keep him company. While it does finally curtail into a sluggish sappy dirge, complete with a noodling guitar solo to mark its arrival, it does prove that their ambitions are a bit more goth than their progenitors.
If HIM, Dope Stars Inc., Latexxx Teens, Down Below, Icon and the Black Roses, Zeromancer, Orgy, and slew of others hadn't already arrived, Dust would be hailed as a landmark album rather than more of the same, good thing. Still, this quartet is quite skilled at writing catchy, hook-filled goth/metal pop, so perhaps the imaginative void found in this debut will be resolved in the future.
While comparisons to DSI as well as HIM are utterly pertinent, Dust's 12 tracks are nearly as tightly written as some of the hits of their mentors. Take, for example, the heartfelt collaboration with Love, "Send Me a Sign;" opening with Dave Shadows' airy falsetto set against the hum and pluck of a string concerto, this overloaded nugget of buzzing guitars, emphatic drumming, and serene backing synths is a delightful replica of HIM at that band's most poppy. Even without the hand of Love, the power chord sentimentality of "A Dying Flame" is quite exquisite. From murky chugging verses to its uplifting synthizer-gilded chorus, Shadow pleas certainly feel heartfelt albeit familiar. Though they certainly excel at these rollicking "love metal" numbers, This Void Inside manages to forge some individualism within its slower numbers. Still wielding those distortion-laced riffs, "Time Will Tell" only uses them for emphasis during its power ballad chorus, allowing Shadow's strength as singer to shine with only a few shards of synth and a weighty piano to keep him company. While it does finally curtail into a sluggish sappy dirge, complete with a noodling guitar solo to mark its arrival, it does prove that their ambitions are a bit more goth than their progenitors.
If HIM, Dope Stars Inc., Latexxx Teens, Down Below, Icon and the Black Roses, Zeromancer, Orgy, and slew of others hadn't already arrived, Dust would be hailed as a landmark album rather than more of the same, good thing. Still, this quartet is quite skilled at writing catchy, hook-filled goth/metal pop, so perhaps the imaginative void found in this debut will be resolved in the future.
