The Return of Victim The return of any established band after a hiatus is always something of an event, usually loaded with expectation not just from the press but in the heads of certain listeners. Which is the case with me concerning the news of new material from Victim.
Its brave but decidedly more commendable for bands to have some evolution in their sound upon a comeback and Victim have certainly done that, exploring some new territory rather than just keep making carbon copies of Strange Thing By Night like a less confident band might. The result is impressive. Far more epic in scope than anything they have previously released, rolling in at over seven minutes, the biggest evolution is perhaps in the vocals. Moodys voice has developed a mannered, moody-by-name, moody-by-nature in which each word is highly enunciated, which in any vocalist has always given the effect of someone who is applying some consideration what they are writing and singing. The gothic aspect is a central part of the sound as well, with its almost foreboding opening bars giving way to those vocals but thats not to say that Victim have lost the pop sensibility that made them special in the first place. Lest we forget, the early wave of gothic was actually a lot of fun and was even termed positive punk by the press generalisations from some people about miserable goth are actually hugely misguided, and In Your Grave is a great celebration of the concept of gothic pop.
Amy Britton |