Τετάρτη 31 Αυγούστου 2011

The House Of Usher - Pandora's Box (Equinoxe Records)

























THOU from Germany is a band proudly standing fr many years on the Gothic Rock scene. They were founded in 1990 by Jörg Kleudgen and Markus Pick. The band’s name is indeed inspired by E.A. Poe’s short story (“The Fall of the House of Usher”). Through the years they have gone through various line up changes, having released many classic records. Their latest one is called "Pandora's Box".

‘Saturn Rising’ is a superb opening track, heavy and atmospheric. The next, ‘Not Your Friend’, opens with a haunting piano but soon breaks into a catchy tune. The follower -which is one of my favorite tunes on the album- is called ‘Consecration’, it is a slower tempo track, well just close your eyes and dive deep into the song, only this way you may feel its secret power. The next one is entitled ‘Coming Home’ and for sure I can point that it is one of the best songs included in the album strong and heavy enough, a dark anthem. ‘How Far Can We Go’ is even darker, and has this oriental touch that makes the track sounding absolutely great.

Another song that stands dark and proudly on this release is no other than ‘Speak by Tongue’, a guitar driven tune that will satisfy you as it carries that classic THOU touch. Of course I should point the ‘Finders Keepers’ song as well that takes straight back to the beginning of the first golden era of Gothic Rock bringing into the mind the mighty Bauhaus.

Well mentioning basically the songs that I liked much from this album I almost mentioned the entire release, the not mentioned ones are not bad but someone can probably call them "fillers" or "weak ones" comparing to the already pointed tunes.

The production is good doing justice to the songs, Jorg's vocals are still the big trademark of the sound while the guitars of Tom O'Connell are still carrying that magical Garden Of Delight touch.

Anyway to sum things up I can assure you that THOU have released a great album, faithful to their classic sound, a release that you would enjoy for sure. For close minded Goths only that still worship the classic bands absolutely not for gay EBM dance floors.

Tracklist

01. Saturn Rising – 6.12
02. Not Your Friend – 4.51
03. Consecration – 5.21
04. Coming Home – 5.31
05. How Far Can We Go – 6.07
06. As Evening Draws On – 6.19
07. To The Glorious Dead – 6.32
08. Love Without Grace – 5.49
09. Where I Belong – 4.40
10. Speak By Tongue – 5.04
11. Finders Keepers – 4.43
12. As It Really Is – 6.33

Line-up

Jörg Kleudgen – Vocals
Tom O’Connell – Guitars
Georg Berger – Guitars
Ralf Dunkel – Bass
Axel Burgard – Drums

http://www.the-house-of-usher.de

Sombrati's Collection - Vol IV




01 Age Of Heaven - The Providence
02 the NIGHTCHILD - Questions
03 The Danse Society - Revelation
04 Merciful Nuns - Evolution
05 Dead Artist Syndrome - Hope
06 The House Of Usher - I Wanna Know
07 ANKST - Monument
08 Dr. Arthur Krause - Torture
09 Vendemmian - Innocent
10 Wasteland - Revolution
11 Golden Apes - The Silence (That I Call Speech)
12 Address Unknown - Silence
13 †13th Moon† - Countdown To Suicide
14 Cabine C - Pânico e Solidão
15 Coma Divine - Reason To Live
16 XIII. Století - Mystery Ana
17 Frank The Baptist - Visions
18 Midnight Caine - Chant
19 Arts Of Erebus - Pray
20 Midnight Configuration - Chaos Mind

Sombrati that proudly stands behind "Gothic Rock - Still Alive" blog presents the latest -fourth- volume of his compilation that includes some very interesting bands that re presents the Classic Gothic Rock sound. Big names like Merciful Nuns and House Of Usher would catch your attention for sure, on the other hand bands like Golden Ages and Wasteland are worth checking and this compilation is giving you the chance to get introduced to their music. In the days before Internet compilations was a big chance for the new bands to be introduced. This compilation series still manages to get us in touch with some very interesting bands.

Get it from here.