Based in Athens, Greece, Garden in Black released its debut CD on the Dead Scarlet Records label on 13 February 2007. Garden in Black is an interesting mix of digitized music mixed within strong danceable beats with the whispered vocals of fear, loss and pain. While the topics tend towards the darker side of the human psyche, the keyboards, guitar and percussion along with the vocals make for quite an enjoyable listening experience (see links to samples below).
The album starts on the darker side with Help Me!! and Your Hell, which offer dark dance themes for the listener. Help Me!! was, for me, particularly interesting with the female voice that said “Help me, I want you to help me” with the same emotionless delivery of the voice on Depeche Mode’s Photographic song – “I take pictures, photographic pictures.” The rasping vocals of Your Hell makes you truly believe the lead singer is the inflicter of pain and tragedy in your life.
The faster underlying beat in War Dialing is in line with a cyber attack. Hypnotic Touch and Fallen Star offer more mellow soundscapes. Retro 80’s sounds and beats infuse 25th of September and The Haunted Song. Dark Current Noise delivers a harder contemporary noise and electronica sound. In Silence is probably the most melancholic piece of this dark, yet danceable CD.
There are also remixes of Help Me!! and Your Hell on the CD. Help Me!! delivers an extra layer of darkness to the original with screams in the background. Both remixes deliver more power with harder, edgier sounds. There is a final track (not mentioned on the CD) that finishes with an acoustic guitar and a woman’s groaning in ecstasy – a most interesting finish.
Overall I found this CD to be quite a good mix of darkness and light. The raspy vocals blended well with the guitar, keyboards & percussion. If you are looking for something dark, but not too dark, then this would be a good choice. I will certainly continue to listen to this album from time to time.
Garden in Black :: Track Listing
1. Help Me!! (5:08)
2. Your Hell (3:44)
3. War Dialing (3:56) Sample
4. Hypnotic Touch (4:07) Sample
5. Fallen Star (4:20)
6. 25th of September (6:26)
7. Dark Current Noise (4:25)
8. In Silence (3:31)
9. The Haunted Song (6:07)
10. Help Me!! (fear mix) (3:42)
11. Your Hell (I hunt you remix) (3:38)
12. Untitled (4:48)
Total: (53:12)
Final note: Help Me!! now has a video clip here, and there are four full tracks available for download on Garden in Black’s site.
Available from:
Amazon
iTunes
Garden in Black (Paypal)
Dead Scarlet Records