Gothtober - Male Tears : "KRYPT"

 This is a newer band that I always forget about, as based off presentation I assume they are not taking themselves seriously. It reminds me a great deal of Drab Majesty and perhaps this is what happens when millennials grow up listening to Drab Majesty rather than Bauhaus. It is very dance oriented, so I can see young kids requesting this on goth night. Everything is draped in a haze of reverb aside from the retro jazzercise beats. "Domin8" finds things beginning to take on a uniform sound. They are heading in the direction of caring more about a sound than writing songs, as the vocals are more of a droning texture at this point. Right now I can handle it but things need to shift dynamically. 

They give me the change I need on "I Expire". The vocals take on more of a death rock pout, though the retain the darkwave bump, that is prepped for a fog machine. "Dealer" borders on techno, and leans more into a dancefloor drone. By the time I get to "Never Again" I am delving into what is gnawing at me about these guys, and it's the fact that this is all synth patches. When I went to the Absolution Fest in Tampa last week that was also one of my concerns, the lack of real instruments on stage, in this case in the studio. It creates a lack of depth as digital only has so much resonance no matter how you mix it. 

"Jaded" does not do anything to change my perspective in this regard, all that shifts is the vocals sound like Count Chocula. "Slay" closes the album. It brings more synths to the table, though there is more room to breathe and not as relentless a pulse. This sounds less dark wave and more like dance music. The vocals are more delicate and sung more, it reminds me a little of Depeche Mode. The varying vocal colors are really the best thing about this album. I will give this a 9, it was an enjoyable listen, though not sure how much mileage I would get out of this sort of thing, it pushed me to my maximum synth threshold , if you are more into that sort of thing , you might not mind this, and find this to be exceptional because you do not know better.