Eat Your Make Up
First Dinner

Eat Your Make Up are one of the astounding demonstrations that death rock is not a phenomenon exclusive to California. Certainly, there are American bands that have become the pillars of this style, among which it is impossible to forget the classic Christian Death from the Rozz Williams era, fathers of the genre, and the equally well-known and appreciated Sex Gang Children. The death rock, riding on the wave of success it has garnered, has spread across various parts of Europe. Over the decades, I mention a few prestigious names that have given shine and prominence to the genre: in England, Skeletal Family and Alien Sex Fiend (perhaps more shifted towards the batcave); in Ireland, Virgin Prunes; in Italy, Madre Del Vizio, Spiritual Bats, Le Vene Di Lucretia, and Chants Of Maldoror; in France, the immense Neva and, recently, also Eat Your Make Up (henceforth, in the text, indicated with the acronym EYMU [ed. note]). I list these formations without forgetting to include among the American bands also the standout Cinema Strange, a group cited by me not by chance, as the detractors of EYMU have, from the beginning, accused the band from across the Alps of being a neglected copy of the Californian trio. However, given that the group of Lucas Lanthier and the Ribiat brothers has produced three highly original albums, each different from the other, what would echo in the French band that refers to the American one? Perhaps Plag's voice might remind one of the singer of Cinema Strange (but in “Neither Sane Nor Insane” and “Amar Ni Xov” he demonstrates a different timbre and extension from Lucas Lanthier's vocal characteristics) or maybe the choice to present lyrics that might recall the macabre tales and lullabies that Cinema Strange narrated in their singing? In this game of mirrored reflections, some should then also mention The Deadfly Ensemble and accuse Lucas Lanthier of singing like Andy Sexgang, Rozz Williams, and Gavin Friday but, above all, like Anna Varney Cantodea. Absurd and impossible comparisons, precisely because by listening carefully (yes, I wrote carefully) to the aforementioned artists, one notices divergences, differences, and originality, which even our French friends clearly display. So, forgetting futile controversies and recriminations that only waste time, let's consider the album “First Dinner.” After the eponymous instrumental intro, it starts off strongly with “The Sixteens,” a charismatic, accomplished, and enticing track, like the subsequent “Holy Bats,” with less frenetic tones until the shattering offbeat that disrupts the melodic lines of the piece, which ends on a crescendo. Passing through “Fanatical Fog,” another well-accomplished track, we arrive at the beautiful “Vegan Hyena.” Together with the following “I Was The Murderer,” “Dust In The Cathedral,” “Neither Sane Nor Insane,” “Amar Xi Nov,” “A Stone’s Throw From Nowhere,” they are one triumph after another. The initial guitar riff in the eleventh track: “What Have You In My Pocket” calls to mind the style of Mephisto Walz, but then develops along other, original and well-defined tracks, in line with both the band's stylistic features and the atmospheres presented in this work. “Night Plague,” a track with a calmer rhythm compared to the others, precedes the concluding “Lullaby,” but is, in fact, the last song on the CD. Indeed, “Lullaby” (which is not a cover of the eponymous Christian Death song by Rozz Williams) is an instrumental outro, a brief lullaby that develops on funereal organ notes. Just as the morning has gold in its mouth, this debut album from EYMU foreshadows their future, rich with satisfaction and confirmed expectations, starting already with the subsequent 2008 work “Things As They Should Be.” Before concluding this review, regarding curiosities and news about the band's history and concerning their formation, I wish to refer readers to a notable interview with EYMU on the portal Erba Della Strega (http://www.erbadellastrega.it/letture/interviste/eatyourmakeup.html).

Tracklist:

1 First Dinner

2 The Sixteenth

3 Holy Bats

4 Fanatical Fog

5 Vegan Hyena

6 I Was The Murderer

7 Dust In The Cathedral

8 Neither Sane Nor Insane

9 Amar Ni Xov

10 A Stone's Throw From Nowhere

11 What Have You In My Pocket

12 Night Plague

13 Lullaby