Voodou

The Blessing of Curses (Invisible)
by Lex Marburger

Tho’ there’s not much new to the mix of Voodou – part Meg Lee Chin, part Front Line Assembly, part Pigface – it should be known that this is far more listenable than much of what is offered in the way of “dark” music. That is to say, the standard pap of too much computer-driven distortion and not enough thought about emotional delivery. The Blessing of Curses takes a (admittedly hot) female singer (who can actually sing, something not seen since, oh, I dunno, Faith & the Muse, perhaps? And don’t give me that whole Switchblade Symphony crap. There’s a difference between singing & caterwauling) and matches her to guitars & programming, mostly mid-tempo, juggling real & synth drums. The sound is clean and rich (produced by Martin Atkins himself, so that’s not surprising), but could’ve used some more dynamic depth. That’s not saying the guitars are always full bore, or the keyboards have no texture. Rather, when the guitars kick in after a bass breakdown, they should blast in, not stay at the same level as what came before. It’s a small thing, but that’s often the difference between a good mix and a great one. Martin should know this, seeing as Pigface is full of that kinda stuff, but so it goes. Better than most, not as good as some.
(PO Box 16008 Chicago, IL 60616)