Gothtober - She Past Away : "Mizanthrop"

 This album came out back in February, and I'm not sure why I waited the bulk of the year to check it out. Not that anything drastically new is happening here; by their own admission, they are reworking a 90s darkwave sound. The Turkish band has a very specific formula they work off  , and it continues to stay in motion here, with perhaps more nuanced guitar parts that are not just droning on. The male vocals are really the only link to a Sisters of Mercy sound, his approach continues in a hushed, breathy baritone that utters lyrics from behind a smoke-veiled shroud of sound. But they do not have the rock punch that Sisters of Mercy has, so the drive is not as booming. 

After three songs, I begin to start wantign to hear a greater range of dynamics. There is a more dialed-in 80s sound this time around, but it only goes so far. "Inziva" finds the beat holding a similar BPM and cadence; they also continue to use the same intervals in the melodies. This might be why I did not immediately jump to check out their album. If they do this same thing on the song after this, I will officially begin to become bored with them. Just because they are a darkwave band and you want to be goth does not mean you should expect less from any of the new big names of the genre. Boy Harsher jsut delivered a banger, so that should be the expectation of every band. With that said jsut playing a louder version of what you were already doing is lazy dynamics.

There is a marginal shift on "Kaypan...". The vocals all sound the same, so that acts as a bit of a hindrance in fully getting behind what is going on here. The guitar sound has improved on this album; it's one way to see their goblet half full. The synth pulses have not. "Kuyui Maar" is danceier; if you are a goth DJ, I imagine this would be the song you would throw in your set from this album, perhaps the beat does not hit as hard, but everything else is more refined. It might be the album's best song. The last song highlights the colder wave vibes they give off in their more stark, detached attitude porjected here, there is less pageantry than what I expect from the more emotive dark wave. They take their time leading into this one, which leads to an almost six-minute song. I guess if yo uare a DJ that needs to go to the bathroom, this plays in your favor, but it is not as groove-oriented as the previous song. Four minutes in it dramatically breaks down andd still has no vocals; what they are doing is not intersting enough to make for an instrumental But they think otherwise. I will give this one an 8.5. jsut based on the fact that it's well done, well produced, and creates the hypnotic sound they are known for, but it feels like they are a bit of a one-trick pony, so if you are a fan of what they do you will like this, but you are probably bored as well. 

pst473

She Past Away :" Narin Yalnizlik"

The first thing that strikes me about their new album that the more emotive and elegant trappings of "goth" have been toned down in favor of  tenser more Joy Division like drone. Though after taking the entire album in I began to appreciate it more.The mutter of the vocals remains pretty much the same for the entire album it's the sounds around it that change . "Asimilasyon" takes a more 80s night feel to the dance floor and the dark wave begins to creep in here until it eventually over takes the album. The sounds and the grooves are cool enough if they actually went some where with it. There is a more upbeat Cure vibe to the backing instrumentation to  but the vocals remain a static low. The guitar on "Uzakta"balances out making this is first song that pulls me int on the first listen. I think a real drum would also benefit this album as the casio sounding drum programming, might get the 80s feel, but it also limits where the songs can go leaving that saddled on the guitarist.  the vocals  take a softer touch, but  other continue to stay monotone . "Hayaller" takes on a more dark wave feel and brings back some of the more elegant sounds that I associate with this project. I think enough of these revivalist bands are doing to joy division thing so goth with beauty and melody is needed.

There is a strong 80s groove to "Katarsis". The vocals remain in the same monotone baritone, sometimes slightly emotive in their pout." Utu Belirsizlige" takes on a more ballad quality, while digging  deep into their Sisters of Mercy influence. The guitar work continues to be their strength as it redeems what would other wise be a overly simplistic song. The album begins to steer away from the Joy Division thing and into a more dark wave direction. The upbeat "Gercekten Ozleyince" balance the organic guitar with the stiff electronics, the mumbling gravel of the vocals is the main thing keeping it dark here, they continue to press further into more dancey Tron territory with "Yanimda". Aside from the guitar the song is flat on the dynamics and one dimensional. The groove remains almost the same as the previous two song, though the tone of "Kuruyordu" is darker by a few degrees. The mutter of the vocals retains it's hushed gravel, the singer seems to have a four note range.

There are some cool sounds on this album and if I didn't demand more from dark wave then I would be ore satisfied , I liked their previous album better it had more passion to it , I'll give this one a 7, if you are just dying for dancey goth and can't find anything then this will scratch that itch and can provide some pretty decent background music if you tune out to the fact aside from the guitar everything pretty much stays the same.