Mors Syphilitica
Primrose

The American gothic I propose to you today doesn't come from sunny California, the homeland of American death rock (Christian Death, Red Temple Spirits, Faith and The Muse, Mephisto Walz, London After Midnight, Strange Boutique, Switchblade Symphony, and many others), but from the Big Apple.

It's a duo that's a pair both in the band and in everyday life: Eric and Lisa Hammer, also known as Mors Syphilitica.

Despite the not particularly inviting name, the music of Mors Syphilitica is really well-structured and fits perfectly into the ethereal American gothic trend that combines orchestral gothic, a strong dream pop characterization, and elements of folk and Celtic music.
Eric and Lisa are somewhat reminiscent of Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci in "Sleepy Hollow"—pale complexion, brooding stare, slender and sensual bodies.

Their music is nothing but their physical transposition: dark and sensual atmospheres, hypnotic singing (Lisa's voice is certainly one of the most beautiful in the genre), sparse percussion, psychedelic guitars, and a characteristically death rock bass make Mors Syphilitica's work a perfect antidote to cool any overheated spirit.

In short, it's certainly not a good way to spice up your evenings, but it's undoubtedly what's needed for those who, like me, occasionally suffer from that slight psychological masochism typical of those who sometimes like to bask in the charm of their own pessimism.

The perhaps most complete album of their trilogy is "Primrose," anno domini 1998.

The image found on the back of the album is the symbol of the same and fully conveys the idea of what is inside, namely a nude, marble female bust whose breasts are hidden by the petals of two blood-red roses.

A dark romanticism, a threatening sensuality, a female vampire, that's what Primrose is.

The record always maintains high levels of gothic sensations and perhaps finds its best moments in "Ungrateful Girl" and its obsessive dance, in the ethnic ballad that gives the work its name, in the decadent reinterpretation of an American traditional classic, namely "Johnny Has Gone For a Soldier", in the silence of "Silently There", and in the cadenced "The Lying".

In conclusion, "Primrose" is a bit like my home; it makes the winter days colder but will make the summer heat cooler and more bearable.