After HIM's embarrassing "Screamworks.." (lost for years now in a limbo of colourless pop..), a work that wipes out even what could be saved in "Venus doom", and with the 69 eyes lost behind fake gothic-street poses in the style of a "poor man's Motley Crue", the genre's salvation comes from Italy, with the new CD by Bloody Mary!
After the excellent debut "Blood 'n'roll", our gothic boys turn out "Party music for graveyards" (cool title!!), introduced by a beautiful cover complete with sexy banshees dancing in the moonlight and the clawed hands of rising zombies, very Misfits-style;
"Velvet", an adrenaline-fuelled gothic rock track (nice filtered vocals), and "Better down", an irresistible hit with a sprinkle of synth, recalling cult albums such as the 69 eyes' "Paris kills"; decadence, spleen and romanticism are well expressed, and our boys do not skimp on guitar aggression (unlike bands that overdo the pop treacle!); Aldebran's vocals are sexy and deep too, alternating with hoarser parts.
"Sobibor" (a hit HIM have not written in years!) lets the Bloody sound shine through at last - the pairing of spoken voice and choruses works very well. "Fallen Christ" is a Sisters-like track, with female choruses very much in the style of "More". "Somebody to love" is a ballad with synth inserts, with Aldebran's vocals up front (you can savour the singer's voice in all its nuances!) - perhaps it is the easiest song.
The singing also recalls Type o Negative. "Before you fade" seems made for the fiery, hot live shows of our Dandies, with an adrenaline-fuelled rhythm section, while "Dreamer" concentrates in itself everything that is goth rock: damned-fatal vocals, heartbreaking isolated notes, a melancholic broken-hearted refrain... perfect!
"Gettin older" mixes an electro wave attitude with old hot goth atmospheres: a winning and interesting track. The Ramones' "Pet sematary" suits our Dandies perfectly: they strip it of its (ragged) punk'n'roll references and cloak it in vampiric goth adrenaline. I imagine this track will be a sensation live!
"The right way" is a ballad that recalls the earlier "Before the rain" from the debut CD, while "Deathly gone" is cloaked in nocturnal charm (a strong echo of "It's all tears" or "The beginning of the end" by the very early HIM).
In conclusion, a CD that confirms the growing potential of a promising band that has every credential to become the next gothic rock cornerstone of the 2000s. Allow me a digression: why not try setting our own language to music instead of the usual English? Bloody Mary already have the musical talent to turn out gothic hits; it would be fantastic to hear one in Italian!
First published in Italian; in English here. Where it appeared ↗