As soon as you hear those cool, mechanical beats, that bruised and brooding bass line, that relentless industrial-infused groove, you know which musical realm you have wandered into. It is the classic goth backbeat, cold and concise, incendiary and infectious.
And why not? It’s a groove that worked back in the gothic heyday; it’s a groove that is twice as effective and three times as welcome now, especially given just how boring and broken the art of drum programming has become under the tutelage of modern rap recruits and hip-hop hopefuls! Plus, you could argue that the gothic scene never really went away anyway; always a fairly niche movement, it has forever been lurking in the shadows on the edge of earshot, always accessible to those who looked for it, always welcoming to those who found there way into its shaded realm.
A Cloud of Ravens’ latest single, “Requiem For The Sun”, explains why the genre never truly disappeared. It may be built on established sounds (established for a reason – they work so well), but it is a sound working its way into a bright new future. (Well, a dark and exhilarating new nightfall, perhaps.) It is musically dense yet melodically addictive. It’s effortlessly groovesome and wonderfully ritualistic, shamanic music drumming up the spirits of black-clad pioneers of those post-punk days.
It is also a sound that will appeal to those who were there the first time around, rope-dancing in alternative clubs with their back-combed hair, winkle pickers, and pints of cider and black, yet turn the ear of a new generation perhaps bored with insipid dance music and landfill pop, cliched rock posturing and style over substance indie bands with their designer clothes and complicated hair. Time for something honest, authentic, simple and direct.
It’s the echo of the past, an echo that never quite died away. It is an alternative to the failings of pop present. And it is a hint of a brave new future for music. And boy, do we need that!
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