Switchblade Symphony — Sinister Nostalgia

This review will not be a usual one, it is mainly aimed at people who have already heard Switchblade Symphony since I wouldn't recommend to judge a band from a remix album (unless it was remixed by the band themselves and this isn't the case). I would tell people who haven't heard them yet to get some of the proper albums first - the obvious exception would be for fans of danceable darkwave who will feel right at home with this release.

Since this is a remix album and all the tracks were reworked by different people, I'll try to give a short summary of as many tracks as possible hoping that by reading those you will be able to decide if this is the kind of music that interests you.

But first, lets talk a little about the overall sound of the band: Nice dreamlike female vocals containing just enough venom to grab you by the throat and force you to listen - don't get me wrong, most of the time they are very sweet, but when a black cloud floats over the studio, you'll know it! Many of the songs have great hooks created by the very fitting yet simple guitarwork, ever-morphing electronics and confident vocals (which are sometimes processed). The music is, of course, dark, but not terribly sad or depressing - I was even surprised at how uplifting it can sometimes be (but this is often due to the remixing which transform some songs that were calmer, in their original version, into what could be enjoyed by those dancers in black).

The album starts with a remix by Norway's industrial act Apoptygma Berzerk which does a particularly good job of adding a dance beat and some voltage to the song "Sweet". The second track, a remix of "Dollhouse" by Razed in Black (Switchblade Symphony's labelmates) is also good but not exceptional... Then we have "Cocoon" as remixed by Meegs and it sounds like a schizophrenic drum & bass tune which turns on a dime and goes into a distorted bass/guitar riff around the 4 minutes mark.

"Clown", which is remixed by Gregory Butler (producer of the last SS album)is the one track in there that sounds close to a normal darkwave number; thebeats are done by live drums (or what sounds like them anyway) and the songis definitely kept mid-tempo and calm until the outburst of guitars aroundthe 3 minutes mark, then the singer goes into some pretty cool vocalizationsand after that it's back to normal (normal in the darkwave meaning of theterm). I think that this song is a nice breather in the middle of a sea ofheavier and faster beats. I suppose it could even be considered a'slowdance' song - every goth/darkwave DJ needs one!

The remix of "Naked Birthday" by Gothastic has the same beat as Led Zep's "When the Levee Breaks" or that Beastie Boys tune (which sampled the Zepplin song..). It actually works quite well but where the album really takes off is on the sequence comprised of track 6 to 9 (ie. Insect, remixed by "6am Eternal", uses the 'beauty & the beast' tactic; mixing industrial beats and harshly distorted vocals with some very ethereal parts and a catchy chorus).

There is nothing wrong with the rest of the album, I want no misunderstandings, but those tracks really do stand out and are the Lexus and Mercedes of the album. I surprised myself by jigging all around my room listening to this - some of it really grooves in a good way and, as I stated above, I'm sure that fans of danceable darkwave and even others who are like me, very "I don't dance ever*infinity", could appreciate it.

The last track, "Wicked" as remixed by Susan Wallace of SwitchbladeSymphony, is actually quite interesting. It has some very reverby trip hopbeats & vinyl crackling accompagned by processed vocals that have a verynasal sound; it would sound very much like Portishead's second album if itdidn't have some bottleneck playing on acoustic guitar that gives it a dustyfeel. Probably the most unique sounding track on the record and also thelongest; with a running time of x minutes, it brings the album to a total of65+ minutes.

So in conclusion of this (overlong, yet I didn't feel like cutting anything by fear of not giving enough information) review, I'd have to say that some of the tracks are not as good as the others, but the overall quality is better than most remix albums I've heard and thus I would recommend it to fans of Switchblade Symphony who are not afraid of danceable beats.