Search - The Birthday Massacre :: Violet

Love at first listen.

Jarrod D. Lawrence | Avon, IN United States | 07/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, a little history of how I discovered this group. My main musical background for the past couple of years has been mostly made up of hardcore/metalcore, bands such as As I Lay Dying, Hopesfall, The Bled, Norma Jean, etc and the whole warped tour scene, such as From Autumn To Ashes, My Chemical Romance and the likes. Anyone who listens to this genre knows that it has become completely saturated. I have discovered some fairly new bands that have impressed me however, such as Bleed The Sky, and Versus The Mirror, but for the most part, my favorites are the ones of old who seem to have left their legacy behind (such as Poison The Well). So, being one who always likes to discover new and great music, I began to try and think of other musical genres that I might like. One day, while I was listening to an old favorite of mine, Type O Negative's October Rust, I decided that I would like to look into more music that was similar to it, since no other cd I owned was comparable. Of course, I came on Amazon and began using the listmanias and so you'd like to.. lists which I find really handy in situations like this. Suddenly a whole new world of music was opened to me.



I first started with Theatre Of Tragedy's album Aegis. And it was freaking incredible. Theatre of Tragedy led me to other bands similar, such as Within Temptation, Tristania, Sirenia, Beseech, Leave's Eyes, Nightwish, After Forever, Edenbridge and a ton more. I decided at this point that my favorite kind of "darker music", besides Type O that is, was mostly female fronted vocals, and my curiousity did not stop with just gothic metal bands. I eventually was led to the projekt label, and discovered etheral dreampop like music, such as Mira and Love Spirals Downwards. Then I began to collect others like Collide, Switchblade Symphony, Kidney Thieves, London After Midnight, and many others. And that is the point where I found The Birthday Massacre. I was reading a listmania and it was included. Since I had already purchased or listened most of the others on the list, I decided to take a shot in the dark and just order "Violet," which ended up being the best shot in the dark ever.



I now own both TBM albums and they are by far the best discovery I have made in my long journey to find...well whatever the heck I guess I was looking for, this being it. The music sets a dark yet calming atmosphere unmatched by anything I have ever heard. You will find yourself getting lost into the music while at the same time having an overwhelming urge to dance. The lyrics are superb and "cute" in a mischievious way. The best for me, however, are the vocals. Her vocals couldn't sound more perfect to me. I would describe them as being haunting and seductive, like a female vampire. Her seductive power makes you desire her with a passion, but you know in the end she's going to bite you. And in this case, I hope she does."

I love this!

Peter Blitz | PHX, AZ | 10/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I stumbled onto this band completely by accident. I was surfing through myspace, and happened to hear Blue. I was hooked instantly.

I grew up in the 80's and was generally a fan of heavy metal and so-called hair metal, but at the same time, I did enjoy some of the other rock and new wave sounds. As the 90's hit, I had no use for grunge music (I think Kurt Cobain is terribly overrated), and pretty much gave up on modern music. As the decade went on, and metal started coming back (but a lot heavier), I followed along and also heard a song or two by Garbage and a couple other musicians with industrial aspects to their stuff.

Having said all that....this band put a whole new spin on my taste in music. They have this 80's sound and melody but with aggressive guitars. It's not metal.... but it is really fun.

Also, check out Tapping The Vein. They also do a version of the whole dark, electronic, heavy girl rock."

"I wore my black and white dress to the birthday massacre...

Skippy Smithers | Home, USA | 09/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is totally amazing. I was in hot topic looking for a poster for my sister and decided to check out the listening station. Well, it was pretty much the same old lame story... emo, hardcore, emo, hardcore, blah, blah, blah... I usually look at the names of their record labels to rule out all of the emo and hardcore stuff. I noticed Metropolis Records... AWESOME! That almost never happens! But who was this band of which I have never heard, even being a major fan of the label? I listened to it and only made it to track 4 before I went and bought it. ( I couldn't really stay in there too much longer with all of the teenagers buying the newest MTV-sponsored bands such as Fall Out Boy... with their John Lennon meets Fuse haircuts... ) LOL. But, I got to my car and played it the whole way home... and am STILL listening to it as I speak. Right now, its on track 8, one of my favorites.



Ok, lets break this style down... Almost never do you hear so many different musical styles and genres in an album. It starts off with Prologue, a very typical intro track for an album released by Metropolis Records. lol. Each song blends 80's new wave ( Cyndi Lauper ), darkwave ( Cruxshadows ), pop ( 80's Madonna... try, "Holliday", which btw, is also the name of track 12 on Violet. lol. ) EBM ( Assemblage 23 ), futurepop ( VNV Nation ), industrial ( Mostly in the form of guitar... similar to a lot of Rammstein's newer stuff ), and very bass-driven rhythems. How this band actually pulled all of this off, I will NEVER figure out... TO compare them to a very weak example, I'll use Orgy. Orgy attempts about the same thing, with two major differences: One, THe Birthday Massacre is actually MELODIC all the time. Two, THe Birthday Massacre is much more capable of finding a home on dancefloors everywhere.



I rarely agree with this cliched phrase, but there is TRULY something on this cd everyone will like! LOL!



If anyone reading this has stumbled across The Birthday Massacre by chance with very limited experience with this style or with Metropolis or Cleopatra Records, I recommend...



With Close ties to The Birthday Massacre............VNV Nation, Clan of Xymox, Wumpscut, Orgy, Bella Morte, The Last Dance, Rammstein, Poison Black, Type O Negative, and Cradle of Filth... ( BTW!!! Compare the chorus on "Blue" to Cradle of Filth! Chibi changes from angelic voice to like a screaming whisper over unrelenting heavy playing... )



Very similar bands................ Within Temptation, Assemblage 23, Zeromancer, Pitbull Daycare, Collide, Eisbrecher, Ego Likeness, Cruxshadows, Switchblade Symphony, The Kidneythieves, The Dreamside...



These are stretching it a bit, but there are hints of them in The Birthday Massacre....................Depeche Mode, The Rasmus, Celldweller, Evanescence, Chevelle, The Cure, Skinny Puppy, New Order...



My favorite tracks are, "Happy Birthday", "Violet, "Blue, and "Nevermind".



This album is just amazing. Also worth mentioning are the lyrics for track #3, "Happy Birthday"... VERY interesting to listen to!



Overall, I'd say The Birthday Massacre is a mix of VNV Nation, Clan of Xymox, Rammstein, and Cradle of Filth... with a female singer!"