Touch The Daemon EP

Nowadays, Angels of Liberty has become one of the names that first springs to mind with regard to British Goth. Furthermore, the duo has reached this milestone in barely four years of existence, re-imagining their influences like no other. Obviously, Voe Saint-Clare and Scarlet Powers draw their inspiration from the major players of the '90s UK scene but, due to the high standards of the songwriting, there's plenty of wholly-owned features in their music to take pleasure in. Throughout their new EP, titled "Touch The Daemon", they succeed to recreate the haunting, baroque air which wraps itself around the early recordings by Nosferatu and so is with the catchy grooves that rocketed Rosetta Stone to fame when the genre reached its second heyday. On the basis of the latter, "Ritual and Tradition" is probably the most representative track of the six that make up this mini-album. There's drum machines that tom and clap at mid-tempos, simple but contagious, riffs agressively thumbed on bass and synth textures ratcheting up the drama. Paired with a baritone guitar tune, Voe's deep, heavy vocals plunge us into a gentle sadness. Running through every arrangement and chant, there's a subtle vein of mysticism which is somehow linked with a remote past. In fact, no matter how uptempo the pieces get though their dark-romantic vibe always imposes itself. Such is the case with "Break The Silence", fully '80s flavored in pace and littered with shameless hand-claps and vocal hooks. At first listen, the track sounds frivolous and cheerful, spinning around itself like a club hit written by Dead Or Alive. By contrast, there's a sobering message beneath that groove. Lyrics advocate individual self-affirmation as a remedy against the brainwashing by which the established power is trying to submit us - conspiracy is one of the band's favorite subjects. In addition to that, the song partially remains in shadows because of its sweeping, mournful keyboards, throbbing synth bass and, like the rest of the tracks, it's pervaded with the decadent dandy's signature singing. "Touch The Daemon" sinously comes in, thrown by a haunting blown melody and some fleeting chords that imbue this piece with some ancient Middle Eastern overtones. From then on, it leads into AOL's distinctive swirl of elements, featuring whip-like beats, ghostly samples, delicate harpsichords and nostalgic riffs from both guitars. Thus, the song penetrates inward upon the listeners until they realize that their toes are tapping and their head is moving to the wavy tunes. "Sophia" perfectly balances its lush, jangly guitar driving with addictive, yet profound melancholy choruses. For its part, the impressive "Our Tears" progressively evolves from grim atmospherics and threatening mecanichal tones towards a choral whirlwind of gloom over the last third, with profusion of meandering, painfully distorted chords. In my opinion, this track marks the highest peak in the EP. Sure that a young Eldritch might try to claim royalties from it. By the way, it's well known how easily the gothic renegade gives his own twist - sinister before, bleachy now - to rock'n'roll, and so seems to occur with the surprising closer "Black Knight Satellite". It's a cheekily bluesy rocker - as a boogie jam of the dead - and manages to provide a strong cinematic feel through its Wild West saloon pianos, virtual mouth harps, feverish riff layers and synthetic fiddles modified in such a scary way. So I applaud them for this enjoyable blasphemy, hoping that they will sin again in forthcoming episodes. However "Touch The Daemon" brims with eminently Goth music, written by a band who exhibits their influences with genuine pride - instead of hushing them with the hope that anyone becomes aware of it. As they like to say: "shadows come from light"; and likewise intense electricity turns into far-reaching dark harmonies within their music.

Review by Billyphobia