SadDoLLs-Grave Party

Inverse Records
2014

By now we should all know the sort of trouble that you can get into when you make assumptions. The same can be said about expectations (as I soon enough came to grasp with "Grave Party") so anything that you might think you know about SadDoLLs should be promptly and properly disposed of. Move past the name (one that conjures up any number of would-be eighties hair metal revivalist bands) and the absurd nature (really outright oddity!) that is this album's artwork, which is something that (frankly-speaking) suggests (design-wise) a mash-up of Poison and Megadeth (with some Merciful Fate/King Diamond touches?) and just let your mind go black. Got that? Are you ready then? Good, for "Grave Party", which is actually just the latest work from this Greek band who first set foot on the scene with the (self-released) 2007 demo EP, "Dead In The Dollhouse", is not hair metal, hard rock or even heavy metal. Instead it's the current sound of an electronic/industrial (alternative) act from Athens, Greece and one, that for all the marbles in the world friends, makes me envision Depeche Mode, God IS LSD and Ministry making over some blank slate of a nineties rock band for their own nefarious reasons! And that's not some sort of  dismissive compliant, but rather it's a complement to the hard fought nature of this Greek band and their technologically-enhanced stab at rock music! Truth be told, the bio spells it all out as "Darkwave Metal". The difference between the two being, or at the very least as I hear it with these long-used ears of mine, "Grave Party" is less about metal (as a general rule and/or a blueprint) and more about the creative energy which flows between the natural (traditional instruments) and the artificial (studio tricks) in a heavy rock setting. So those looking for that "metallic sound-scape" might just be let down whereas those individuals seeking electronic music with a "rock edge" would likely really enjoy this album. As an introduction to the band it sat well with me and, in regards to it's overall direction,  I found it motivating from the standpoint that it is, more or less, an electronic product. As such it get's high marks in my book.