Birthday Massacre

With this release, Toronto’s the Birthday Massacre shows us that they can write catchy songs while still keeping the overall feel dark and on the heavy side of spooky industrial synth-pop; a very refreshing addition to the Canadian electro/goth genre. The vocals of front-gal Chibi are decidedly unpretentious; they don’t fit the mould of anyone else and she doesn’t hide her ability to actually sing behind scads of effects. What starts out as a whisper with "Happy Birthday” soon builds to a fine dance number as things progress, and as if that isn’t enough to make the whole CD great, the programming and backups are complex and varied, with both guitars and keyboards to round out the sound. Nothing boring or repetitive here. What other praises can I sing, other than to say that my volume kept going up and up with each song. Dare I compare them to the likes of one of my all time favourite goth/synth bands Clan of Xymox? Can’t choose highlights because the whole thing is fantastic. Don’t waste another moment reading this review and go pick a copy up for yourself.