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Rating:
In the history of dark-punk, of gothic rock, the English are remembered as the best interpreters of the genre. Indeed, bands like Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus, Joy Division, Siouxie And Banshees, have written important pages of this style, which was very popular in the early 80s. But across the Atlantic, there was a band formed in '82 that represented, for a couple of years, an authentic nightmare for the staunchest believers in America. The poses of their leader, Rozz Williams, who committed suicide a few years ago, clearly indicated a heretical and blasphemous attitude. He sometimes appeared on stage dressed as a bride or hanging on a cross, simulating the sacrament of communion. At this point, you would expect his music to be torn by demonic screams like Marilyn Manson, scarred by powerful heavy metal riffs, and industrial rhythms. No, nothing of the sort. "Catastrophe Ballet", the second LP and probably the pinnacle of "Christian Death" (after the historic debut "Only Theatre Of Pain", played with a different line-up), is a concentrate of subliminal violence, latent pain, a very subtle death ritual, not screamed, but finely psychological. Its ceremonial is not vulgar, or spectacular; quite the opposite. It is elegant, whispered in a monotone and catacombal tone, over carpets of lugubrious organ and dreamlike guitars. The rhythms, now nerve-wracking chimes, now martial pulses of sick punk, create a climate of notable tension, anguishing and claustrophobic.
The means used by Williams was much more intelligent than many clones that emerged following the dark boom, and it demonstrated a markedly superior musical sensitivity. Ultimately, a record that has nothing to envy the more well-known manifestos of the genre, but rather stands out for its originality and creativity. Beautiful in all its parts, it is more "cult" than its "rivals", but deserving of equal, if not greater admiration.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 Sleepwalk (05:18)
Feel these arms
steel arms, now we are blind
hide my eyes
my eyes so out of place here
now we are hard-cutting
trapped in beneath
cold-loving mirrors stand alone
they lead you alone
they lead you alone
old hearts break down
footsteps tied till believeing
can we hold sand?
slow hands break up the family
we all fall down
one chance to fail, sleepwalking
take off your face
you'll learn to trust my dry hands
this cage is still
and he cracks, now we are safer
true dreams stay west
I say to kids "are you protected?"
now we are answers
silence pressed pure
we wait at the crest of our will
and we stand alone
we lead you alone
we lead you alone
(still) we will feel movement
(still) and we will fill stations
(still) we will fear time
(still) this time we are bleeding
(still) tears of love like strangers
(still) bite through, break the ice
(still) soon words will be forgotten
(still) though, cruel scenes linger on
we hide from sound-paintings on distant walls
we hide from cold still-lives on empty floors
we hide our bent husbands behind slamming doors
don't run to the window
because burning glass warps
we stand still
and we stand like whores
we are alone
and we stand still
and we stand like whores
we are alone
we stand still
yes, we stand like whores
we are alone
we stand still
03 The Drowning (04:04)
Up for three days
up for three days
down under ground for six more
incisions cannot penetrate my feet
tripping, gliding, falling numbly
hands held together with unwanted skin
ripping, hiding calling dumbly
You, in houses of mud
you, in gutter sleep - love
you, born to slaughter - swathed gloves
you dressing daughters and sons
like you - I am broken and fragile
like you - I am tasting my heart for the first time
like you - I am feeding on slumber
like you - I’ve left my eyes far behind me
down for the count I'm still drowning
I'm still drowning
The eighth day
sleep, the eighth day
clawed my way back to the first
no gentle fingers collapse on my eyes
weeping, prying, struggling blindly
there's no sanity standing me back on my feet
I'm in an empty room
I'm burning books from you
I'm lost in bed with you
breaking these mirrors to end all I’ve seen
Like you - I am broken and fragile
like you - I am tasting my heart for the first time
like you - I am feeding on slumber
like you - I’ve left my eyes far behind me
down for the count I'm still drowning
I'm still drowning
I'm still drowning
04 The Blue Hour (04:56)
I've come to lie beside you
I've come to know the dark for light
I've come to trust just one
and that one died with yesterday
with yesterday
Now that I’ve laid me down to sleep
for what it's worth, I dress my tears in costumes
never again will we, will I turn to stone
the drowning edges of my pillow
catch the last breath
on a desert leading down
the breath too deep, the breath too long ago forgotten
I've come to lie beside you
I've come to know the dark for light
I've come to trust just one
and that one died with yesterday
with yesterday
Now that all honest clocks bury oceans with sand
our tears have filled them once again
when will I, will we stand at the shore
to cleanse our souls?
To cleanse our souls?
Are memories too deep,
are memories too long ago forgotten
now that I’ve left that chance to die?
I've come to lie beside you
I've come to know the dark for light
I've come to trust just one
let us not die like yesterday
like yesterday
Can we coincide with drama?
WIll we live to tell our sons?
The cancer of childhood continues to grow
nine days seven times
lost our first to a thousand answers
lost our sight to to tide
can we look away
or must we look inside?
Or must we look inside?
08 Cervix Couch (04:57)
One by one
One by one
All together, all alone
Places can not claim us home
Creed of love bars not our way
Singing shapeless as our day
Fishwives leave the gutters
Mothers leave their sons
While the curious men
With their curious smiles
Leave rejected in pairs
One by one
From action, not from fear
Count us well we're always here
Feeding stranger lusts in dark
Cornered each in alley park
Fishwives leave the gutters
Mothers leave their sons
While the curious men
With their curious smiles
Leave rejected in pairs
One by one
Harps of choruses fill the air
Mark of shame already there
Streamers flung against the wind
Cross our faces we have...
We have...
We have...
We have...
We have...
We have...
We have...
We have...
We have
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