Christian Death - Ashes - Cassette

Nostradamus / Dutch East Records
Original, Not The Repress

The second and final studio album made as a full collaboration between Rozz Williams and Valor Kand, Ashes finds Christian Death at what might have been simply the beginning of a long-term partnership of quality rather than a final break. Williams' vocals are much more controlled and immediately powerful than in the band's overwrought early days, substituting a quieter sense of later, David Bowie-inflected drama instead of, say, Ziggy-era Bowie squealing. Kand's lyrics aren't any less laden with images of religion, twisted sex, insanity, and mystic rites -- a ritualism well matched throughout by the music -- but the near-adolescent goofiness of earlier times feels much more considered and focused here. Kand, in the meantime, brings a much more consciously artistic edge to his music than Rikk Agnew did on Only Theatre of Pain; the aggressive power is tempered by a huge theatricality that still works, almost in spite of itself. Not to say that this era of Christian Death can't rage as hard -- the conclusion of the opening track, "Ashes" itself, is a frenetic explosion of sound, where drummer David Glass and singer/keyboardist Gitane Demone also earn their keep.

Track Listing
1. Ashes
2. Ashes Part II
3. When I Was Bed
4. Lament-Over The Shadows
5. Face
6. The Luxury Of Tears
7. Of The Wound