The project brings Spanish producer JG Outsider together with vocalist Gerd Van Geel of the Belgian band the Arch, to create an interesting take on dark wave that incorporates elements of post punk with the more traditional club beats of the genre. The most shadowy aspect I have encountered in the genre is its less dramatic expression of melancholy. Geel's vocals are not croaking out a vampiric baritone, but his voice carries a vulnerable tremble in his introspective upper register. It's almost similar to Peter Murphy's more pleading upper register.
This project's strength lies in how different it is from other projects active today, rather than the similarities, which largely lie in the overall mood and the drum programming. The effects on the guitars also create a more ethereal atmosphere. On "Me and the Desert," you can hear a more Cure-like influence on how the guitar melodies are employed, though this is done to create a darker lurking, not as ominous as anything on "Pornography" but more like the "Kiss me, Kiss me, Kiss me " era. The synth layer brings it the closest of the three songs to the more traditional picture of dark-wave.
The last song is a remix of "Me and the Desert" that finds the beat bolstered and given more urgency, though the vocals are mixed back further into the flood of racing synths. If you were picking a song for your goth night mix, this would be the one. I will give this album a 9.5 and see how it grows on me. I like the fact that it is true to the genre without defaulting to the expected tropes.
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