Switchblade Symphony
By: [email protected]
If I were asked to name one band that has moved and inspired me more than any other I would be obligated to respond Switchblade Symphony. When I first bought their album, Serpentine Gallery, two years ago it was simply because they are on the Cleopatra label, a label which has produced many amazing gothic and industrial acts. Now, this is the one of the most prided CDs in my collection.Switchblade Symphony combines a classical music background with synthesizers and gothic themes to produce the haunting poetic lyrics and transending melodies which never cease to fuel my ever changing moods.
Their music simply engulfs the listener. Perhaps, they had anticipated this very reaction when they created the song Dissolve, which cries, "can you see me going down, I am screaming out loud". It pulls you in and you feel yourself both dissoving into the music and becoming it.
My personal favorite song, Gutter Glitter, is a paradox in the title itself. It suggests beauty and escape in something as loathed as garbage. This CD truly nurished all of my moods; if you are depressed, it understands and cries with you; looking for answers in life, it comforts; or angry, it calms.
The overall theme is that of a struggle against the world and life itself and with the crystal voice of the lead singer, Tina Root, it manages to make even that sound beautiful.
