Solemn Novena - Kiss the girls
Solemn Novena is a band which finished its activity just after it was started. After founding a band (in 2006), releasing EP "A Darkness Falls" and a single "Silver" (2009), they launched full-length "Kiss The Girls" (2010) and after that... they disbanded the group.
After listening to "Kiss…" you may really say that it is a big loss for gloomy-classical sphere of music. From the very first song, "Juliette," we may experience the gothic in a really English style. Along with Louise’s vocal and Marcy’s choirs the first associations with London After Midnight and Sisters of Mercy come. However, it is not a step backwards or repeatability since there is stylistically adjusted drum machine and optionally – Marcy’s very gothic, dreamy vocal or Louise’s cold wave one. And of course Solemn Novena’s hallmark, namely extremely powerful and omnipresent AFTERSOUND.
Well… this aftersound fascinated me while listening to the first song. An to the next one.. and to the following... and to one more. Until my enthusiasm turned into a simple, basic question – what is it for? To mask deficiencies? If so, it really works. Or maybe it is just band’s chosen vocal stylistics? Well.. after 3-4 songs it becomes tiring and very artificial, as if the band’s members were children who discovered one effect in the basic program and kept going with it.
Guitars are to my liking because of Stuart and Marcy’s sublime, light solos, which however have nothing in common with simplicity, but rather may be identified with talent and ability to move easily from one melodic motif to another. Melodiousness is in fact the best word to describe this album.
Also the arrangement of the songs is great. It starts from the average "Juliette," through energetic "Silver" we suddenly fall into the depths of the eighties equipped with pianos and "Ruined," as well as slower "The Dreamer." After that there is absolutely stunning, title "Kiss the Girls." The essence of the essence of the gothic and Marcy’s beautiful vocals. Half-ballade which hypnotizes from the beginning to the end. The unbearable vocal effect especially in this song is an advantage, when it comes to the atmosphere of the composition and it makes you experience the highest levels of nostalgia and sentiments which permeate through the song, although without the aftersound, the song would still be amazing.
The next songs speed up the rate and maintain it to "Missa Solemnis" which starts like a ballade, then goes faster and gradually slows down, closing the album with The Cruxshadows’s romance "Theatre Of Tragedy."
Basically "Kiss The Girls" is an ode to classic gothic with slight contribution of our times. Staunch fans of the genre would enjoy it for sure, unless they turn a deaf ear to already mentioned aftersound...
It’s a pity that the band finished their activity just after starting it, because I would like to see them during live shows and swing among people in corsets, laces and with backcombed hair, indulging in their interpretation of gothic which according to the band "..can still simply touch your soul."
Tracklist:
01. Juliette
02. Silver
03. Ruined
04. The dreamer
05. Kiss the girls
06. Faerytale
07. Tell me all your secrets
08. Trick or treat
09. Siren
10. Missa solemnis
After listening to "Kiss…" you may really say that it is a big loss for gloomy-classical sphere of music. From the very first song, "Juliette," we may experience the gothic in a really English style. Along with Louise’s vocal and Marcy’s choirs the first associations with London After Midnight and Sisters of Mercy come. However, it is not a step backwards or repeatability since there is stylistically adjusted drum machine and optionally – Marcy’s very gothic, dreamy vocal or Louise’s cold wave one. And of course Solemn Novena’s hallmark, namely extremely powerful and omnipresent AFTERSOUND.
Well… this aftersound fascinated me while listening to the first song. An to the next one.. and to the following... and to one more. Until my enthusiasm turned into a simple, basic question – what is it for? To mask deficiencies? If so, it really works. Or maybe it is just band’s chosen vocal stylistics? Well.. after 3-4 songs it becomes tiring and very artificial, as if the band’s members were children who discovered one effect in the basic program and kept going with it.
Guitars are to my liking because of Stuart and Marcy’s sublime, light solos, which however have nothing in common with simplicity, but rather may be identified with talent and ability to move easily from one melodic motif to another. Melodiousness is in fact the best word to describe this album.
Also the arrangement of the songs is great. It starts from the average "Juliette," through energetic "Silver" we suddenly fall into the depths of the eighties equipped with pianos and "Ruined," as well as slower "The Dreamer." After that there is absolutely stunning, title "Kiss the Girls." The essence of the essence of the gothic and Marcy’s beautiful vocals. Half-ballade which hypnotizes from the beginning to the end. The unbearable vocal effect especially in this song is an advantage, when it comes to the atmosphere of the composition and it makes you experience the highest levels of nostalgia and sentiments which permeate through the song, although without the aftersound, the song would still be amazing.
The next songs speed up the rate and maintain it to "Missa Solemnis" which starts like a ballade, then goes faster and gradually slows down, closing the album with The Cruxshadows’s romance "Theatre Of Tragedy."
Basically "Kiss The Girls" is an ode to classic gothic with slight contribution of our times. Staunch fans of the genre would enjoy it for sure, unless they turn a deaf ear to already mentioned aftersound...
It’s a pity that the band finished their activity just after starting it, because I would like to see them during live shows and swing among people in corsets, laces and with backcombed hair, indulging in their interpretation of gothic which according to the band "..can still simply touch your soul."
Tracklist:
01. Juliette
02. Silver
03. Ruined
04. The dreamer
05. Kiss the girls
06. Faerytale
07. Tell me all your secrets
08. Trick or treat
09. Siren
10. Missa solemnis
