Maida Vale / Madness is Too Pure



label: the Sign Records



Reviewed by: Stace

Viking, Wah-wah, Fuzz, Goth-Metal Psych from Sweden. Repetitive, tribal rhythms under heavy, stoney Sabbath riffs with some good guitar chaos and really strong Siouxsie Sioux-style vocals. Soundtracks for Viking RPGs. Music built for working long-haired Swedes into head-nodding ecstatic states. Definitely the lovechild of Bauhaus, Black Sabbath & Jane’s Addiction, with a bit of the more Tolkienish Led Zeppelin thrown in. I swear I can’t tell if this stuff is serious, or tongue-in-cheek, which makes it better, maybe. Good stuff
FCC Clean

Favorites: 7, 8, 5, 3

RIYL: Deap Vally, Wolfmother, Black Angels, Tenacious D, Siouxsie

1. Deadlock (3:06) - Opens up with what could almost be a fast, rocking “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” cover, but crashes into a heavy tom and bass driven beat with nice fuzzy lead guitar over the top of brisk, almost surf-rocky rhythm guitar. Echoing vocals and soaring howls lend it a gothic tone.
2. Oh Hysteria! (4:51) - More trance-metal than the last track, with the same dependance upon a repetitive, heavy rhythm section and fuzzy, chaotic lead guitar braiding in and out of the reverbed vocals until a final epic drum climax fades to screeching guitar.
3. Gold Mind (4:43) * - Pretty straightforward female power vocal driven rock. If the Runaways recorded a song after being subjected to several hours of Iron Maiden. Probably most radio accessible, whatever that means.
4. Walk In Silence (3:23) - Rush-like guitar solo intro, moves immediately into Fu Manchu heavy fuzz territory with an almost spaghetti western tang. Returns to the Rush guitar for the outro.
5. Späktrum (4:14) ** - She-Ozzy vocals are cool on this one. Heavy bass and high-hat & cymbals rhythm right out front this one, with machine-gun rhythm guitar across the top.
6. Dark Clouds (6:14) - Slower plodding bass-walking and trancey-drum rhythm. Lots of nice layers of psych guitar on this one. Vocals give way to about 3-4 minutes of guitar until fade.
7. Trance (3:46) *** - Siouxsie-esque vocals and repetitive gothic pace gives way to heavier, Black Angels-type fuzz assault at about 2:10. Abrupt end at about -:03 seconds. Favorite.
8. She Is Gone (3:01) ** - This one really reminds me of Jane’s Addiction. Nice back and forth between stereo channels in the guitar work during the solos. This could totally be a long lost cut track from Jane’s first album.
9. Another Dimension (4:49) - Stoney goth space opera. Picture one of those 1940’s Buck Rogers rockets hurtling through space, with really groovy planets whizzing past. Great overdriven guitar explorations, over highhats and trance inducing bass walks dissolves to subwoofer tearing reverb crescendo at 4:10, fading to quiet.