Entwine – Gone – Review

Entwine

Gone (Century Media)
by Scott Hefflon

Great! Now I know who to put on side two of the Lucyfire cassette I made to play endlessly in the car! Side one was taped weeks ago, and nothing else in my collection (that wasn’t one of the obvious top-ten already on tape) seemed worthy of that thoroughly-enjoyable slice of Goth cock rock. Entwine isn’t exactly neon-tinted neo-glam ass-shaking, but Tiamat/Lucyfire is an odd mix. This bit of bloated melancholy is mixed with the kind of spirit-lifting choruses “heavy alternative” dorks like Creed and Lifehouse live for (and the only reason we don’t beat their pansy asses senseless) and should work nicely.

Gone opens with the Dark Tranquillity-sounding “Losing the Ground” which, vocally, introduces a new hiccup, a kinda Gene Loves Jezebel catch-in-the-throat, but in a Goth metal context. In English, that means dense production (Mika Jussila – Children of Bodom, Stratovarious) highlighting keyboards that dance atop ruff’n’ready guitar hammering and pounding beats (mid-tempo, AC/DC-pacings, dig?), and layered rock-sounding vocals layered tremblingly on top of one another (no deep, pretentious drone here). Anyone sick of the pompous Goth voicings and the metal demon snarlings should appreciate this human (as in quivering and occasionally inaccurate) style. And very solid songwriting and playing for a sophomore effort! Watch this band.
(1453-A 14th St. #324 Santa Monica, CA 90404)