CD Info

2012

Self Released / Argentina 
15 Tracks

English, Spanish, German & Latin Lyrics

South America presents us with a range of musical styles. However, hard core Gothic is not generally among the options, with a few exceptions. Well, this one goes in that direction. This is the darkness, both in look and sound. You have to see this stuff to get the real picture, the sound is good but it’s much better with the visuals. And be forewarned. Christian fundamentalists might want to avoid this material, this walks in a different direction. We’re driven to the chaos by a dark haired Gothic beauty with a killer axe and a voice that comes from south of eternity. There are others in the genre who take this direction, Cadaveria from Italy comes to mind, the Blackthorn witches from Russia. But lead singer Carolina Bakos does double duty here, providing a dark vocal interpretation to the lyrical material while playing a solid guitar on a number of tracks, and damn, she looks good doing it. Bakos doesn’t use a traditional death metal vocal like the others. It’s a difficult vocal to interpret. I guess you could use the term "classical" but it’s not like Tarja or Simone. It goes in a classical direction that seems to reflect a darker perspective. Like you just got your ticket punched for the afterworld and this was the entrance music, but with a solid metal flair. Hope I get something like this when my time comes, gonna make the journey a lot more enjoyable. Especially if the vocalist looks like this while performing it.

The band doesn’t deviate far from their lead singer’s visual presentation. This is not your average Sunday School instrumental troop. The "look and feel" continues with the dark perspective that Bakos seems to favor. And, they produce a musical style that emphasizes the dark direction that drives the lyrics. The band calls it "Epic Gothic" and that would work for me. The music is clearly metal in its overall flavor. But, there is a solid keyboard based symphonic that drives a number of tracks and seems to be there to make sure we recognize that eternity is on the menu, whether you like it or not. And, I like it. But, the music is interesting, there is an overall classical tone to things, even if the guitars, and there are three of them, take you to metal heaven. It’s this interplay of the symphonic with the metal, all there to support the classically oriented "Dark, Epic Gothic" lyrical component that is the defining characteristic of the music.

Music like this provides a singularly interesting cognitive appeal. You know, there are times you wanna rock, there are times you want to hear strictly beautiful. But, there are times when you want something that drives the inner Goth, when you want to face a darkness that only certain kinds of music can provide. It should have a beautiful component, there should be some metal structure, but, the most important component is the one that takes you to places that traditional reality doesn’t address. And this music does that. We go to a place that has a more distinct focus, a place where our reality takes a break in favor of the darker dreams that make up a part of our reality that we don’t discuss with our mortal brethren. If you are familiar with the psychological themes addressed by Faust and Pearls, and other German theorists, you’ll recognize that some parts of our reality are beyond the natural interpretation of our physical senses. And, it’s these themes that music like this is most comfortable looking at. We want a comfortable delivery system, but, the feeling, the psychological payoff. . . that takes a different vehicle to deliver us. That’s the beauty of music like this. A good Puerto Rican rum, a solid Russian vodka and a little Gothic music can do things nothing else is capable of.

Lead vocalist Caro Bakos is an Argentinean of Hungarian descent. However, the lyrics cover several languages, reflecting that European background. There are also a number of guest participants, who provide us with an interesting range of musical styles. The lyrics are especially of interest, as are the delivery of those lyrics. I asked Caro about them, she responded, "Lyrics are both, emotional and passionate, visions of magic poetry and creative esotericism, as I'm very interested in hermeticism as also into different magic paths. All those things, enshrined from the unconscious, dark and lighting landscapes posing the polarity and the search of a third element as an existential resolution." It’s a Pagan’s delight. But again, you have to see the material in an appropriate format to get the idea.

We might start there. Seductive Pain is the major video for this production. You get both a visual interpretation to the music as well as a live performance shot, and you’re not disappointed. This clearly won’t make the Westboro Baptist Church video selection list but, for us Pagans, it’s more than OK. Notice that in this release, Caro is heavily involved with the guitar, that doesn’t always happen but she’s sure fun to watch when she’s using it.

The band does a nice dark ballad. There’s a remorsefulness to pretty much all this material, but the soft stuff may be more intriguing. And more haunting. White Mountain is one of these and you quickly get the point that their interpretation of eternity may not be in line with some traditional folks:

Give me a reasson / Nonexistent God,
come inside the hurt, / you must bleed,     
you must know,/ feel now how it feels inside,    
give me a reason, / give me the knife,     
move inside my impotent hand…

Some of the material is in Spanish, and I rather like that material, it seems to flow a little better than the English IMO. Tentacion provides something that almost provides a folk Gothic sound. I’m no expert at Argentinean folk music but this seems to fit some of what I’m familiar with in Spanish cultures in that regard. Again, the message takes a Gothic turn, this time with a Latin American flavor:

Es la tentación hermosa. / Es la tentación sabrosa.
Es la tentación malvada. / Es la tentación sagrada.
Ella vive de tu carne. / Ella bebe de tu sangre.
Ella ya no te deja, / ya no puedes olvidarla 

Blue Heart Mein Herz Behex reflects some of the vocalist’s educational background, much of it in German. Here the track begins with a Doom direction but builds as the lyrics alter from English to German. An interesting twist and an even more interesting sound.

And, finally, for the existentialists among us, Alone provides another track that moves from Doom to Gothic in the blink of an eye. With this one, the lyrics are clear enough to understand without prompting. Although the Latin may be a challenge to some. A solid song and a damn fine video there, hey?

Well, it’s certainly a different take on the typical South American sound. Probably more representative of some of the material coming out of Europe, maybe Eastern Europe. But, I did say she was Hungarian, guess it’s in the genes. Either way, Gothic to enjoy. . . . especially live if you can pull off a trip to Argentina.


9 / 10

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