Kuudes Silma : "Pelko"

Svart Records lives up to it's name , by delivering dark music and branching out from metal. This Finnish post-punk band, carries the revivalist torch in a manner not unlike Bellicose Minds. Male and female vocals share the mic to give a more layered delivery. This album sounds great and is cavernous to capture the 80s sound without being a slave to it. The opener has a lot of drive. They are not death rock purists or too punk for their own good and use synths to add a coating of atmosphere. The title track is more aggressive with the vocals becoming more forceful. The pace of the song stays just as brisk as the opener.They sing in their native tongue so to American listeners this might give the songs a more uniform feel.

 The songs breeze by you at such a rapid pace, I almost lost track of "Sina ja mina" . The vocals are more shouted. The bass takes the traditional role in holding the song together. The drums sound almost programmed on this one. On the song that follows I can tell the drums are real. The verses break down and are musically more melodic while the vocals shout over these passages.The guitars really sound good on this one and I like how the female vocals trade of with the more punk male vocals. Midway into the album things take on a more Cure like tone sonically. The male vocals shift into more of a whisper which is as close to singing rather than yelling they seem to get.There is a harder and darker current to "Huhtikuuta" . The synths come up in the mix and vocals take throaty bellow. This is as close to metal as they get. The Cure influence continues to be felt and at first glance the album cover even looks like "Pornography".

The album locks in a more uniform groove on the back half of the album. They only vary slightly from the formula. The songs blend together until you get to the last song and then there seems to be more melody as it takes on an even darker mood.Overall this is a solid album, it's the band's second and they are going further into the shadows here. I like the fact that this is more firmly on the goth side of post-punk, while I am not sure how much air time it will get, repeat listens did find it grew on me so I will give this one a 9.