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Band: Angels Of Liberty
Album title: Touch The Daemon [EP]
Release date: 30 April 2014
Label: Secret Sin Records
Tracklist:
01. Touch The Daemon
02. Ritual & Tradition
03. Sophia
04. Our Tears
05. Break The Silence
06. Black Knight Satellite
Britain has since 2011 a new name that outshines most of the recent traditional gothic rock production and this is nobody else than duo Angels Of Liberty. You've heard of them, haven't you? In those few years since the bands inception they reached an enviable cult status within the genre and some even said that we have a new The Sisters Of Mercy here. Believe me that this saying is not that far away from the truth and the band showed this with their debut album named Pinnacle Of The Draco which was released two years ago. Two members, Voe Saint-Clare and Scarlet Powers have one aim, like they say, "to create Goth with a capital G for the elite few left who are still proud to call themselves Goths, those who, with their passion and will, tend to the Black Flame". What they do is pure gothic rock, but in their case done just by use of synthesizers, drum machine, programming and soul moving vocals. There are no natural guitar sounds, neither there are deep, full of reverb bass lines, but still this thing sounds more generic gothic rock than most of the things on the market right now. The fact of originality is not important for the two as they draw the influences from all the best things that were ever done in goth sector in the period between 80's and the new millennium.
Those familiar with the name Angels Of Liberty from their debut album already know what to expect and the band brings all that and in my opinion even more. The bleak haunting atmosphere is still present all over the six featured tracks, there is a perfect balance of suffocating darkness and extreme catchiness, everything painted over with Voe Saint-Clare's plundering deep, a bit raspy synthesized baritone vocals. The instrumental side is pretty simplistic but yet the right effect is reached over and over again with precisely elaborated song structures and soothing compositions. The EP in question consists of six songs, with playing time around half an hour, that all have a potential to become goth classics. From the strong opener "Touch The Daemon" on there's no breather in between as the listener gets immediatelly consumed by overwhelming and powerful flowing assault of, how to say..., Goth, yes, that's the word! The very next one, "Ritual & Tradition", is a diabolic soul consuming mid-tempo drum machine driven gem with a chorus that creates such an eerie ambiance. And the feeling doesn't end with a slightly danceable rapture on "Sophia", just listen to the dense atmosphere in the background created with the use of traditional gloomy synths.
And then comes the complete darkness with slowly killing spherical masterpiece "Our Tears". In my opinion the best track Angels Of Liberty ever did. The song slowly builds on pace until the final explosion in the last part of it. Astonishing and mind seclusive strong atmospheric keys create such an irresistible dreadful - funeral like ambiance and pathos that is so very hypnotic. The next one, "Break The Silence", is a pure school example of traditional drum machine driven gentle goth rock where catchy dark rhytms and somehow danceable melodies could wake the sleeping vampires from the coffin even at the middle of the day. The closing song, "Black Knight Satellite", is something different from the rest as it plays with our nerves with the vibe somehow jazzy and funky, with smooth bluesy toying all over. It could be used as a closing part in any of horror movies from the 60's.
The two should be proud of what they are doing by keeping the true and traditional goth spirit alive. The deep, unpolished and cold production gives some shivers and I think that it balances the things very well. I can say it's even better, although beign quite similar, than on the album Pinnacle Of The Draco or perhaps on the other two EP's and one single released by the band in the past. It's also always interesting to hear a band that uses, harshly said, worn out elements to create quite identifiable and unmistakenly trade mark sound that can't miss the target. Another thing to point out are interesting and meaningful lyrics, yet those beign not really traditional. Goth rockers all over the globe should not skip by any means this release. It's an essential monument of modern era gothic rock. It's a school book release, sincerely.
Review written by: T.V.
Rating: 9/10
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