:: Stabbing Westward

Stabbing Westward

Apparently Stabbing Westward used to dabble in the domain of industrial sounds. There is nothing remotely industrial about their self-titled latest album. If there were in fact touches of industrial experimentation or industrial noise, then this record would resemble something remotely interesting or sonically challenging. This is pure modern-rock, falling somewhere between Fuel, Creed and the countless other generic, male-rock acts, endless trying to inject symbolism into their production line output. Musically, it’s wonderfully produced (Ed Buller of Suede), with rich guitar overdubs and some nice effects on singer Christopher Hall’s clean, yet unremarkable voice. But it’s the pathetic high-school poetry lyrics (it seems like yesterday/we were making plans for the future…), or (I’m haunted by your face/and the memory of your kisses/sweet kisses) in the obligatory slow-rock burner I remember that really give this record an unnecessary weight and render it instantly forgettable. This is the sound of an industrial band, cashing in, looking for a slot in the cd-stackers of Triple M listeners everywhere. Despite the low quality of the lyrics and the unadventurous nature of the instrumentation, I fear that Stabbing Westward are extremely genuine in their recorded output, hence they come off as a low-grade Depeche Mode (and that’s saying something considering the latter’s spiral into a creative abyss). http://www.stabbingwestward.com