Sunday, December 17, 2017

The 2017 Jester One Music Top 20 Countdown - #4

#4 - The Birthday Massacre - All of Nothing



If you've ever listened to The Birthday Massacre before, you know that they have three trademark sounds that you will hear in every single one of their songs. There's heavy doses of synthesizers, there's overly programmed guitar work, and of course there's Chibi's sultry voice. There's a lot of programming that goes into making the band sound like they do, and I've always enjoyed how heavy they are able to make their music through the use of electronics.  But the be-all for the Toronto-based group revolves around the fact that Chibi has a beautifully haunting voice that turns her songs into personal stories which inevitably pull you in closer to their music. The band has been an underground hit among the EBM and Dark-wave communities since 1999, dropping 7 records and spawning hits like In The Dark, Red Stars and Violet.

Their newest album is titled "Under Your Spell" and it's an exceptionally personal and powerful record that digs even deeper to the talented singer's soul. The band has had the same 3 core songwriters (Chibi and guitarists Rainbow and Michael Falcore) since their inception and they always write incredibly tight riffs and tend to puncture the darkness with their glimmering synths and sparkles. There's catchy hits like Without You and One, thumping jams like Hex and Counterpane, and of course the deepest and most emotional song of all, All of Nothing.

The song opens with an airy dose of atmosphere before the synths bite in and the guitars drop low. The opening line of "once upon a waste of time, all I had was never mine" doesn't even begin to prepare you for the chorus of "you were like a dream, cuz you never came true". It's nothing short of massive and mournful, to the point where you might actually believe that it is your heart that is being ripped out from within you. I can honestly say throughout 2017 that I listened to this chorus over and over again, just letting the music dig through and shred my heart. It's so beautiful and full of pained soul. And although none of the songs on the record scored over 400k streams on Spotify, I would definitely say that it was another successful crowd fund for the Canadian sextet.








Title: All of Nothing
Artist: The Birthday Massacre

Album: Under Your Spell

Previous #4s
2016: Graceful Closure - Choices
2015: Jason Derulo - Want To Want Me
2014: Eye of the Enemy - The Shift
2013: New Politics - a) Harlem; b) Goodbye Copenhagen
2012: Garbage - Beloved Freak
2011: Matt Nathanson - Kiss Quick
2010: The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
2009: Alice in Chains - Check My Brain

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