Mephisto Walz
The Eternal Deep

"Turn your head, slowly" 

Mephisto Walz is a duo consisting of Barry (Bari - Bari) Galvin, a multi-instrumentalist who had the prestige of playing guitar in the later Christian Death and in Rozz Williams' Shadow Project, and Christianna Leonard, an enchanting vocalist with an icy gaze.

A cult band in the Californian death rock scene, Mephisto Walz were the forefathers of the American gothic movement that developed following the release of "Catastrophe Ballet" by Christian Death, which in my opinion, sparked the American dark generation at a time when "Only Theatre of Pain," Rozz and Agnew's masterful debut, was heavily influenced by Rikk Agnew’s punk/hardcore experience and thus had little of the romantically gothic musical atmospheres of the subsequent album.

The music of the Los Angeles group has as its fundamental and recognizable traits the buzzing effect of Galvin’s guitar, the muffled and electric sound of the bass, and Christianna's ethereal voice.

Death rock, dream pop, electropunk, and industrial nuances blend excellently in what is a collection of the band’s very first works and which I propose to introduce you to the group, namely "The Eternal Deep", released in 1994, which mixes Cocteau Twins, Christian Death, and pre-debut period Sisters of Mercy (that is, the most exquisitely punk ones), in such a way as to give life to a highly enjoyable and absolutely original product.

A work, therefore, decidedly energetic, at times dark, and with some melodic episodes.

And then, "The Eternal Deep" contains one of my absolute favorite songs, namely the opening "Alle in Asche", two minutes and thirty-one seconds of ethereal dream sung in German, to be listened to with eyes closed.

Despite the name, later on, "The Eternal Deep" does not cause the listener to sink but keeps them on edge thanks to the electric and menacing punk of "Der Sack", the vigorous gothic rock of "Drowning, Like The Garden" and "Facade (Closet of Faces)", the covers of the Rolling Stones "Painted Black" and the Stooges "I Wanna Be Your Dog", reinterpreted in death rock style, and that "Silent Thunder" which also appears in "Atrocities" by Christian Death and which saw Barry Galvin and Valor Kand dispute over its authorship.

In short, such an important band in the American gothic scene and with such characteristic sounds cannot go unnoticed.