Vioflesh -"Melancolia"

 Here is the last "goth" album I am going to review before I start sabdbaggin them for next month's  "Gothtober." I really liked the "Nostalgia" album, but based on what I remember from that one, it feels like this time around things are more streamlined and sonically in line with your more typical darkwave sound. There was a murkier sound before that gave a dense atmosphere and gave this project its own sound.  But with any style of music that leans on technology to sustain the electronic elements, it is also subject to the new trends that come with such andd the upgrades that come along the way in the constant refinement of a sound. The drum programming has not advanced since then, and things move with a droning hypnosis. It does grow on me as the second song got better with another listen. 

There is a more synthwave feel to the keyboards here and a smoother, more future pop like beart, The only problem with this is that it is not as dark and feels more like the Pet Shop Boys. There is also more of a dancey feel to "Close to Me".  The vocals are more of a droning chant that is in time with the beat rather than anything hooky. The 80s vibes at times give them a TR/ST sound. This continues on " Tonight". "Chains" rides a similar groove, making it seem like this album is going to succumb to a uniform feel until it gets to "Sweet Poison," that benfits from increased atmosphere. 

"Abstraction" is more upbeat and dancey if that is the kind of thing you are into; I prefer a darker throb, but they have other ideas. It's not wrong, just different. "The Spell" gets darker and has a more haunting synth line, so I am not going to complain about that."Stormy Eyes" dives back into the 80s and puts the leg warmers on. They gather some momentum here.  At times, it brings Boy Harsher to mind in how the vocals are produced."Mistery" sounds like video game music. The vocals balance this out a little, and it is intersting to here the come up in the mix. "Drizzle" closes the album with a somewhat darker shift. Overall, they are still good at what they do, and it creates a solid vibe for this time of year, so I will give it a 9. 

pst423