THIS was my first introduction to both Violet Tears and Michael Riddick’s Fossil Dungeon label in general. Riddick is supported by his brother, Mark, and each belong to the stunning American neo-Medievalist outfit, The Soil Bleeds Black. Violet Tears, on the other hand, hail from Bari in Italy and, although this is their very first album, were actually formed way back in 1998. The opening chimes of ‘In the Throat of the Unbounded’ invite us into a world of gentle synths and acoustic guitar. Carmen de Rosas’ vocals remind me instantly of Goth legends, The Cure. In fact the band’s image is also one of dark features combined with melancholic beauty, something which is reflected in their music. Here, the lyrics – despite their awkward English grammar - tell of physical exhaustion, depression and gloom. All your typical Gothic ingredients, in fact, but I do like the Robert Smith-style delivery a great deal. The lines of ‘Silence’ reflect upon death like a metaphysical poet from the old Romantic period. There are echoes of John Keats’ own fears of mortality in the words ‘Pain of death seems so far, so unreal / So, little further, time fades away and death will fondle you, sweet unknown’. The music is amazing on this second track, with steady drumbeats swaying like black roses in the wind. Rosas’ pained vocals are wonderful, soothing the soul through the tinkering swathes created by Claudio Cinnella’s simultaneously–generated piano and electric guitar. ‘Polvere’ is an Italian song, with Claudio Contessa handling the deep vocals and Rosas harmonising. The bass guitar on this song is Tiziana Tosto’s sole contribution to the album and the drumming, rendered by Gianluca Altamura, is also very technical. ‘Don’t Wake Me Up’ sounds like the mantra of mass society, but here it becomes the death-wish of a disillusioned dreamer in which nobody has any confidence. The music reminds me slightly of Ostara’s ‘Secret Homeland’ period, but with Richard Leviathan replaced by Rosas’ operatic ode to perpetual sleep. ‘The Submerged and the Saved’ is slighter darker in tone, stuttered riffs and pedestrian beats accompanying lines about emotional neurosis and deterioration: ‘Dead and empty, empty and alone in a high and still night / Which takes with itself fragments of death hidden in an empty broken and falling moon’. Grim stuff, indeed. The only criticism I would make of this song, is that –like one or two others – it has been composed in semi-fractured English, although that doesn’t detract from the overall sound during the delivery process. Like fingernails down a blackboard, the squealing chord changes of a rumbling bass herald the arrival of ‘Eternal Nights’, the vocals quite distinctive but also similar to those of Siouxsie Sioux of Bromley Contingent favourites, The Banshees. ‘Floating Into Nothing’ starts off as a form of Dark Gothic ambience and its existentially nihilistic utterances about the meaninglessness of human existence are preceded by the heavy synths of the opening track. I love the no-nonsense vocals on this song and they remind me of Alzbeth’s contribution to The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud. The electric guitars of Cinnella and Contessa are combined on ‘Angel In The Mirror’ and the latter’s vocals form a very powerful duet with Rosas. In my opinion, the addition of choral effects and bells combine to make this the best track on the album and this is a song you’ll keep coming back to time and time again. Finally, ‘Secret Words’ – most notable, perhaps, for its complete absence of vocals – attributes its ‘lyrics’ to Altamura. In reality, however, it’s an infectious instrumental foray in which Violet Tears get the chance to display their musical prowess before a striking bell concludes this enjoyably Romantic album and leaves you hungry for more. For more information, please visit: http://www.violettears.com/
