The Birthday Massacre - 'Under Your Spell'

Pretty much business as usual with Chibi's hypnotic vocals astride a wave of synthesiser and guitar.

It's something of a mystery how The Birthday Massacre can play second fiddle to PVRIS. The music is similar and yet TBM, with six albums to their name versus only one for PVRIS, remain something of a cult. Surely that is about to change with the rise in popularity of Electronic Rock.

It's been four years since 'Superstition' came out – 'Imagica' (a collection of re-masters from the early days before the band took on their present day moniker) was released in the interim – but it's pretty much business as usual with Chibi's hypnotic vocals astride a wave of synthesiser and guitar.



'Counterpane' is unusual as the guitar outweighs the synth and it's, perhaps, the heaviest song that the band has ever recorded. The sonics are clarity personified with every pop, bang and whiz audible on the eighties-tinged title track, the hypnotically spooky 'No Tomorrow' – which wouldn't be out of place on a Horror film soundtrack – and the mellow Depeche Mode-inspired 'The Lowest Low'. 'Endless' is an upbeat affair that closes the album and contrasts perfectly with the more melancholic moments, illustrating clearly the dichotomy of the band's name.

Mike Newdeck