Anguisette - The Creation Chamber

When pressed to pinpoint what appeals to me about Jyri Glynn, I'm torn between his Violin expertise, his Steampunk influence, or his work with Deathrock band "The Sins".

Anguisette has been around for a while now, looking all beautiful in its inception and design - just look at the Website and Album Cover. My hopes are that this album will do two things :

1- It won't play second fiddle (pun not intended) to the artwork and imagery
2- It won't just sound like "Wishfire" by the Cruxshadows (which is all I can think of when I hear of Violins and Electro).

Who among you remembers Switchblade Symphony? The first track here, "Indefinite", reminds me very strongly of the album "Serpentine Gallery". I don't know who the female vocalist is, but she does sound a lot like Tina Root, and that IS a compliment - back in the late 90's, I was a fan of acts like The Shroud, Faithful Dawn, and similar neo-goth bands with Female vocalists, and a small drop of Electro influence. From a Retro point of view, this song makes me smile.

The true sound of Anguisette is evident on "Betrayal", which sounds like Delerium meets Cruxshadows (when both acts were at their best). - The press kit also suggests a comparison to Evanescence - a fact I hate to admit, but is worryingly true. Fortunately, this takes away the teenage goth fan base, the "trending" sound, and the commercial rubbish that makes Evanescence very unpopular among the underground, but it does however have the element of musical wonder that Evanescence used to have. (Listen to the first album "Origin" - It's not bad.)

Jyri's instrumentation on here has an Eastern feel to it, like an Arabian Market in the Summer, or a trip to Thebes.

I can never keep my focus on Darkwave sounding music for long enough to write a track by track, but believe me when I tell you that the tracks on this release sound like they all belong together on an album - a knack that certain bands can't seem to find. My criticisms towards Anguisette are that despite the beautifully crafted sounds, the talent, and the excellent vocals, there isn't a single song on here that I can say stands out as a single.

That also gives the album strength - there's no bad tracks, but I worry that the average listener will come away from the album without a strong memory.

If you like any of the bands I mentioned above, this will go down a treat. I can stretch my recommendation to fans of Rhea's Obsession, Qntal, This Ascension, and even Ataraxia. Jun 19 2011