Attention all you whining philistines who babble about the so-called decline of Goth. Stop staring into the grooves of that scratchy 1987 Ofra vinyl and try supporting some of the artists who are today helping Goth to undergo a renaissance as an art form, and not just a trendy scene or stereotype. For starters, check out the latest release from Lycea entitled Cold. This nine-song, 58 minute masterpiece is an even stronger work than Lycea's 1995 double-disc effort The Burning Circle and Then Dust and more prominently features the skills of Tara VanFlower. She contributes backup vocals on various parts of the disc, along with songwritting and lead vocals on three of the tracks. Her only unfortunate offering is "Polaris", a majestic piece musically but a little short on any lyrical merit and overworked with a lot of meaningless crooning. Remember "The Great Gig In The Sky" by Pink Floyd? One Clare Torry is enough. Please leave the self-indulgent, masturbatory "listen to my lungs" thing to Pink Floyd.
Tara showcases her lyrical style on the ceremonial "Snowdrop" - "To live in purple scarlet bliss/ and swim with jeweled golden fish" and does a bangup job on the 3/4 time rollic of "Baltica", a tune reminiscent of much of the material on The Burning Circle's first disc. And pealing bells, disturbing keyboard ascents and wispy, effervescing soundscapes make "Baltica" a strong track. Of course, if you don't like the song, that doesn't matter. Just put yourself into a morose, haunting frame of mind. Stay that way, and do it darkly, until you are dead. Or undead. Whatever - just dig the music!
Vocalist Mike VanPortfleet's uptempo - "yeah" ad-lib gives the song "Bare" an oddly Seattlish kick, a la Alice in Chains. And if a bunch of flannel kids go out and purchase this disc, then hey, that's mass appeal - and that's what artist justification is all about.
Mike brings a haikuish brevity to the lyric of "December" - "Please let me remember/ these last days...December/ this glory slipps away". That's like a haiku, not in five-seven-five but more like the unstructured snippets favored by Jack Kerouac. Now-departed David Galas composed the music backdrop.
One other thing for you whining philistines. If you haven't yet discovered that Goth music is on an upsurge, perhaps you should keep in mind that Cold has been getting airplay on the DX Radio Network, originating out of Rochester, New York. It's also getting airplay on at least 40 radio stations across North America. (Projekt)