Gothtober - The Birthday Massacre : "Diamonds"

 Before their was Chrvches these guys spran up on Myspace. Pop music given a dark goth sheen. Some times it was cosmetic only though on their newest album I can find a little more evidence to support their argument as being 'goth" on the second song. Though this is pop goth for girls who like anime. Not as happy as the first album I heard from these kids in the early 2000s. Most of the shadows come in the mabiance as felt on the title track. There are some kind of nu metal like guitars that mixed pretty low and often hard to differentitate from the synths. There is not a great deal of depth in what they do either sonically or meotionally , though this is better than other albums I have heard. 

Chrvches is not as dark and they are going for something more appealling to a hipster pop sensibility than this band which is more Magic in the Gathering. "Run" is a little more pop, with lighter verses . So far it is the first song that strikes me a filer despite a decent hook in the chorus. The superior song and one of the album's best is " Flashback" . It is driven by a better groove and more interesting lyrics with some occult dabbling even if it's on the most basic botch Hot Topic level . Where "Last Goodbye' is too k-poppy for my personal tastes , "Crush' is an excellent song with a nice moddy throb.

I had to listen to "Mirrors" three or four times in oder for me to pay enough attention to form an opinion of it. It opens up with a beat that want to be industrial but does not have the balls to pull it off. It's ok but nothing to grab me. The last song however works for me.I will give this album an 8.5, these guys are good at whaty they do and maybe I wouild be more impressed if I was a teenage girl who played Pokemon Go at the Mall. 

The Birthday Massacre : "Under Your Spell"

The first time I heard this project was via an ex-girlfriend when their first album came out many moons ago. I was turned off by the fact that it was way too happy from the image projected by how they marketed themselves and it reminded me of  something from an anime soundtrack. So giving them another shot years later I am happy to say that is toned way down in favor for a darker more melancholy tone. I guess when it comes to poppy darkwave bands like Chrvches have taken it way into the mainstream, so having taken note of where music has gone since their inception the needed changes were made. I am on the defensive expecting Asian girls with pom poms to come dancing out with cyber dreads at any time. But now we are avoiding major keys and they keep things with a shadow around the silver lining even going into the third song which hint at dub-step tones bubbling under the surface. The production value having of course evolved with the times to make this a smooth slick machine.

There is a lighter note to the more sugar laced melodies of "Without You" that benefits from smart pop song writing sensibilities. There is more drive to "Counterpane" that give the singer's voice the feeling that she is more of a rock singer than she actually is. So here is there secret. These guys are well versed in what their limitations are and know how to turn them into strengths. This seems to have come from experience. The thick electro beat of "Unkind" gives the song enough heft to counter balance the more anime sounding key board melodies. The chorus does lack the punch to compliment this beat and is not as hooky as the previous songs, even when the guitar comes in a the refrain. There is a more of an early 00's pulse to "Games" . If you are thinking Evanescence you are pretty close. The vocals are poppier , but devoid of any nu-metal so I'll take that.

"Hex" is one of the album's strongest songs. It finds the beat and the vocals working well together to find them playing to their strengths.  There is more guitar leading into what turns into a more tender "No Tomorrow". The song builds back into a more brooding chorus rather than going big as expected. They go into more of a dream pop feel with "the Lowest Low". Which is a ballad I suppose. "Endless" picks up into what would be a more typical dance floor filler. Not the album's most inspired song, but typical for what they do. I like this album, it's entertaining. I'll give it a 8.5 for now and see how it grows on me.