Search - Clan of Xymox :: Notes from the Underground

Clan of Xymox rules!

Jeffrey Gray | San Antonio, TX USA | 08/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Xymox sticks to their dark moods, but this album has a lot of energetic songs ("I Want You Now"). As a longtime fan, I was very pleased with this return to their root sound. They continue to mature and evolve, but this album really knocks it out of the park."

This is the marker for excellence

Gaby Halloway | Seattle | 02/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes it puzzles me why Clan of Xymox is not more readily accepted as goth music *legends* - especially in the US club scene. I worship this band. Over 15 years have passed since their debut on the 4AD label with Clan of Xymox (1985) and later Medusa (1987). Before that they had released Subsequent Pleasures on their own label in 1984. They've been on a major label (Wing/PolyGram), played the corporate game, and came back to their roots establishing their own label time and again. Stamina, if nothing else, should make them something other bands should aspire to. Keeping up with current trends and most importantly, still remaining true to themselves and the scene, CoX has continued to give us incredible, quality releases year after year. No where else has a band fused electronics and organic music like CoX has continued to do. In an interview they did with us in February 2001, Ronny commented, "As you know Clan of Xymox always delivered an album with a hybrid combination between keyboards and guitars, only the overall atmosphere this time is much darker than the previous releases. As far as I can see this is the line I will follow for the future as I feel this suits me the best and feel the most comfortable with; the dark side of Clan of Xymox! "



That being said, personally, I cannot tell you what a comfort this new CD has been for me in the past few weeks - especially regarding the happenings here in the U.S. I've drowned myself in this CD, over and over again and nothing has felt so soothing and "right" in a long, long time. It was like a homecoming in a way. Comfort in old familiars. Its classic Xymox in feel and darker tones, but its also current, with updated electronics and club-friendly beats melded with crunchy guitars. Its yet another perfect step forward in their progression as well as one of their most "atmospheric" CDs in a long time. The title Notes from the Underground is appropriately descriptive - having never lost touch with goth aesthetics. The production on this CD is incredible. Never has CoX sounded more polished and more mature with every note and sound tweaked to perfection. In appearance, its utterly beautiful - the cover in brilliant green and black covered in cryptic symbols and words and contrasting inside the liner notes and on the CD itself - an elegant and graceful spider spread out on a sea of crimson.



The first track, "Innocent," opens with a scratchy intro that gives way to classic CoX sounding keyboards that set the feel and beat of the song. Slightly reminiscent of their 80's sounding keys, its tempered with a darker, atmospheric minor synth line as Ronny's vocals pour over them like familiar and warm worn-velvet. Guitars scream accents and reinforce a sense of urgency related in the lyrics.



"I Want You Now" catches the ear immediately with an addictive guitar line and steady drumming. Electronics are used more as appropriately placed accents in this song... lots of noises and twitching going on and off throughout like audio-candy. Ronny croons, "Love.... love me not" with that deep whispery voice and I could just melt to my knees on the dance floor.



"Internal Darkness" follows at a more laid back beat. Loping along in self-indulged misery, its gloomy goth at its best ending with a plaintive piano line...



Sunshine, I wait for dawns recurrent light

I ponder in my narrow hour and warm myself

Moonlight calmly shines through the night

I stare at these old photographs, my heart beats fast

I find no peace to read or write

My soul is lost, my spirits down

There's no one in the dark

my little world has lost its light



Track 4 - "At Your Mercy" opens with a haunting sound scape - desolate and surreal with its echoes and chimes and bird calls. You can almost feel the dark mist before the guitar line swoops in to pick you out of the fog. The guitar is probably my favorite element of this song - at times tickling our ears with a Spanish flair. Incredibly dancy it plays into seductive, hopeless lyrics ... "She said she'd always love me, she said she's always need me...how could I could break away once she said this thing to me, she knew I was going, she knew I was going away..."

"Anguish" is a complex track, changing tempo and mood many times through out - sometimes enjoyably sinister, sometimes contemplative depressive. Although probably not as viable on the dance floor as some of the other tracks, it is a song with alot of musical merit... a journey that changes and morphs right before your ears from steady, driven tempos, to rumbling punk-like bass lines, to near silence interludes full of minimal electronic accents. At the end, it plunges into a stark soundscape and if you listen carefully, you'll hear a keyboard line that will be repeated with more force in the track

"Something Wrong".



"Number One' starts off with some interesting electronic rumblings that rather remind me of Chewy from StarWars (credit to my child-like imagination). Whatever it was intended to be, it adds mysterious texture before the song kicks into this fast paced, up beat song. Smart guitar lines drive it and layers of keys in the background fill it. Reminiscent of classic Xymox, its an easily recognizable as one of their songs no matter if you've heard it before or not.



Mournful piano lines open the sad ballad-like "Into Ber Weh." Accented by delicate acoustic guitar and pensive vocals, its easily the most beautiful piece on the CD. However, if I had to chose a favorite track at this point in time, I do believe it would be "The Bitter Sweet" with all its dynamic changes, mysterious tone and perfect fusion of electronics and guitars. It opens with chiming darkness and a bubbling synth line infused with very industrial sounding noise. Ronny's voice announces, "I'm not a savior, I'm not a saint, I'm not an angel who's coming in, I dont believe in anything pure like you do" twice while intricate textured noises come to life in the background. The tempo picks up slightly and then fades into an angelic chorus until the song erupts into a new, faster tempo completely out of the blue. This transition is my absolute favorite part of the song. There's nothing like a good anticipated tempo change on the dance floor for added drama. After being electronic-heavy in the beginning, you get a good dose of guitar midway through the song and the beat continues to drive the song home while melody lines that appeared in the beginning are repeated at this new tempo. What a rush!



"Liberty," the title track to the single we saw previewed last December, is included here as track number 9. At the time of release, Anthony had written: " 'Liberty' is a song that could be interpreted different ways. " I guess it's gonna be, a question of my sanity - I guess it's gonna be against the heart of liberty." The things that lie at the " heart of liberty " are the things that keep us sane. They are our freedoms, however we define them. There is such an erosion of personal freedom throughout our life, that it leads to real desperation, a sickness of the soul. We might very well " warm to the thought of being through." Eternity still remains a veiled promise. "



"Something Wrong" is a fine example of their excellent and forward evolving synth work opening with some heavenly lines before plunging into a more desperate and sinister melody first heard at the end of "Anguish." The song moves along at a moderate pace, fusing guitar and bass in here and there and still, that keyboard line sings out in the background - akin to mournful strings, its get louder and louder and finally takes over in a furry of emotion.



Track 11, "Mysterium" was quite an unexpected treat for me and a demonstration of this bands wide ranging talent. Its an dark ambient, instrumental tracks slightly reminiscent of the Murder of Angels project put out on Middle Pillar Presents. Dark and thick in noises and gloomy atmospheres, its primordial ooze, its an industrial wasteland haunted by ghosts from different realities.



The final listed track, "The Same Dream" starts out with a version of that same synth line used in "Something Wrong" and "Anguish" neatly tying this CD together with its thematic inclusion. Sonja Rozenblum provides airy, heavenly backing vocals contrasting against Ronny's smooth voice. The beat is synth-pop in nature making it a prime candidate for the dance clubs while remaining true to its dark nature without getting too "poppy".



In conclusion, Notes from the Underground is a solid 12-song release with no bad apples in the bunch demonstrating once again that Clan of Xymox is one of the leading bands in this genre and one that deserves quite a bit more accolades than it gets. This is the standard other bands should aspire to. This is the marker for excellence from thematic approach, to infusion of organic and electronic elements, to production and presentation. This is quite possibly, the best release I'll hear all year. This is a must have."

Full of musical surprises and a must get

Amy Bellamy | San Fransisco,CA | 01/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Another brilliant album by clan of xymox. You can imediately tell its their newest album ( year 2000 that is ) because of the new eletronic sounds heard as soon as you begin you play the first track, be warned though, i thought there was something wrong with my CD player in the beginning of the first track, innocent. The vocals are much clearer on this album and the lyrics seem to differ too. Its more of an album based on the idea of listening to the sounds rather than the vocals. Its a mellow and relaxing album with a racey track at the end, titled The same dream with added female vocals giving a nice ending to the album. Its a beautiful album with the darkwave influences still there. Personaly i like the tracks innocent and anguish the best. Mysterium is certainly a weird track but pleaseing to whoever listens to it. The bass seems to toned down a bit, as you cant hear it as well in this album. A great album altogether, full of musical surprises and a must get for any dedicated clan of xymox fan like myself."