Oh, my Goth…!
RBK are a band that are very much in the Goth world then flitter in and out of other genres like a fearless moth. The imagery of the band through design and photo shoots is fantastic and gives a nice non-musical backdrop to the band.
Album opener, ‘Alice’ is a chilled and gentle track that is a little like Kate Bush in a sensual coming together with Tori Amos. It’s like Florence And The Machine but with added gothic eeriness. A gentle guitar strum, a simple beat and some eerie looped chimes are the musical background that then has strings jump in for the chorus. The high-pitched Baby-doll-esque singing of dual female vocalists Layla and Azadeh, dance over in a beauty meets horror soundtrack. ‘New Nightmare’ is more fast paced with added Metal guitars and big keyboards. Then as we get to the thumping drums and the thick bass line of the next song, ‘Pretty Dead Doll’ you can see the morbid lyrical content that is the norm here. This is another example, however, of how the vocals seem a little too low for the music, and whilst I understand that the vocals are sung in a slightly subdued way, the music almost drowns out the vocals, which takes away the impact of the song. Shame.
Playing again on that tantalising imagery of our imagination, ‘No Strings Attached’ has some plucked strings that sound a little like a ghostly music box, before the slightly dull-beat, and vulnerable words plead out. Then through the chorus we have some Marilyn Manson-esque guitars, before it all quietens down for the verse once more. Then in, ‘Teddy’ we have a more rocking tune that has a ghostly high-pitched howl like you might hear from a Psychobilly band, and minus any double-bass, this could well be The Horrorpops, with Metal guitars. It’s one of the more catchy songs here. “There’s a monster in the closet // I’m a big girl but I’m not scared!” go the words…
Previously released as a single, and reviewed here, ‘Butterfly’ is a gentle ballad with vocals and acoustic guitar that has the eerie undertones of an Alice Cooper song from the 70’s. The vocals are almost whispered out, and this is in fact one of the songs whereby the production and mixing seems to be spot on. The strings float in giving a well-rounded song. This then leads us to what was the other of the double A-side release, ‘Ballerina’ that has more of a sneer to the vocals, and a vamp-like edge to them, over big guitar riffs and a violin, once again if you can buy into the whole package, may well give you visions of Gothic castles, candles, thunder, lightening and monsters at midnight…
‘Toy Soldier’ is another song that floats along, with the lyrics dancing without any real punch, and acoustic guitar and keyboards in the background. The harmonies swim out giving a dream-like state, but even with the nice piano keys halfway through this fails to leave any impression. This is something that can’t be said for the fantastic, ‘Deadly Yours’ which starts off slowly with the vocals slowly building up to a nice mid-tempo song that is layered and well constructed. Then in the last song, ‘Lure Of The Temptress’ we have guitars that spit out a riff that borders on Rock’n’Roll albeit with more than a heavy nod towards Metal, and the vocals sing out slightly deeper than previously. Musically this is more of a rocking track, with some atmospheric keyboards knitting it all together well.
Currently based in Southampton, RazorBladeKisses are a band that show some great promise. They are not a band that you can dip in and out of, and you have to be a lover of horror, Goth, and things that go bump in the night to fully appreciate them. They are a dark band that isn’t offensive, but more theatrical. The production on this is slightly wayward at times, but if that is mixed a little better then this band could definitely have a large cult following, if not flirting with the mainstream, albeit after dark…