For a debut album especially,
The LoveCrave have offered up a fine slab of gothic rock here. One that will be a difficult juggernaut to topple. Alot of bands in this genre come across as cheesy, tongue and cheek, and lacking sincerity. You can tell they are painted up, leather chokers and all for the paycheck. Like outfitting at Hot Topic and taking some mildly depressing poetry set to downtrodden, comatosely boring music trotted out for the roadshow.
The LoveCrave is different. Their songs are built upon highly melodic structures that allow the tracks to have an addictive flow while still toying with all the little nuances that shape the music into its genre.
Plenty of electric fuzz, ghostly whispers, haunted electronica landscapes, and the venomous vixen voice of frontwoman Francesca Chiara pulls this gothic group together. Francesca projects a unique mixture, causing comparisons to the honey sweet Stevie Nicks, the hard edge of metal goddess Doro, the raspy sexiness of Shakira and the curvy lushness of the Aphroditic Liv Kristine. The music is suitably wallowed in angst and despair and all the dark emotions from the fragmented human soul. They coax these to the surface with the sweet breathiness of
"Can You Hear Me". Confident in its slick hook, pulsating synth fuelled twisting core and slight ragged rasp to the female vocals. It turns on you like a tamed predator feline, sleek and unassuming to start and then snapping into its previously guarded vicious side with fangs beared and claws extended. This metallic turn rips and roars, strings bending and rhythm section thundering. Its like the a black clouded night at Castlevania. It slinks and slips away into the shadows just as easily.
"The Angel and the Rain" masks the lead vocals under a web of distorted effects and like the spider enticing the fly to its web, the ghostly voice wandering the musical halls seethes sensuality, a dangerous seduction. You can feel the thrill of forbidden lust bleeding its true colours at the fuzzily defined edges.
"Little Suicide" is a commercial track that could find its home on the radio somewhere out there if goth rock is a favored part of the playlist. Peppered with synthesizer and an easy, catchy chorus hook spins into throbbing gothic rock experimentation.
"Vampires" wings its way through a typical rocker styled track slathered with little angsty touches. A huge, bursting instant chorus seals its fate as a creepy rock rush but equipped with the ability to sustain itself without sucking the blood elsewhere. The guitars are also of note, tingling, fiercely clean and weaving its snaking way through musical waves. The axe tone has a strong feeling of Iron Maiden's "Somewhere in Time", while the vocals are piercing and fiendishly foxy in their gritty bite.
"Fading Roses" becomes a suitably bleak ballad. Wrapped in a plush velvet and tinking its gentle highs with light flutters of piano and softly cooing orchestral backing. This gives the ballad a cushioning that leaves it a rather soft and shining experience.
"Dark City" is a compelling closure. Atmospheric, vocals shattered and broken like the waking truth realization of the white lies from a night dreamed fairy tale. Pittering like rain comes the acoustic, and the pouring drops from opened slits in grey clouded skies washes the wounds away for just a fading little while.
There are going to be a million comparisons made in regards to this band, yet a part of
The LoveCrave remains unique and all their own. With so many bands riding the wave of vampiric cliches and depressing tragedies, something magical comes through on
"The Angel and the Rain" that puts it in a league of its own. Whether its the unique varied flair of the vocals, the unusual love affair with rich melodies, or the intricate touches that are like a fine filigree chiseled into the music - which of these makes the disc such a pleasure remains a mystery. Perhaps its the combination of all these factors and the manner in which they have been melted together. What could have easily fallen into the trap of being the fly in the cobweb, this album rises above and is more in tune with the web itself. Eerily intricate, deceptively dangerous, and sparkling in a way that is strangely beautiful. HIM, Lacuna Coil, Evanescence - if any of these have crossed your path favorably, then
The LoveCrave is a band you owe it to yourself to partake in their potent potion.
Written by
Alanna Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Show all reviews by AlannaRatingsAlanna: 8/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
This article has been shown 2085 times. Go to the
complete list.
