Stabbing Westward - "Stabbing Westward" (Koch)

With a new label, a new guitar player and a new sound, Stabbing Westwards self-titled new release is both an evolution and a new beginning. Three years and one record label after Darkest Days, the radio-friendly of late Stabbing Westward return with a collection of faultlessly formed, poppy tunes – quite different, but not altogether alienated, from their previous, industrial-sounding material.

Produced by Ed Buller -Suede, Pulp, Crystal Method, Ben Lee- and mixed by Tom Lord-Alge -Wallflowers, Hole, Blink 182, Live- Stabbing Westward's new approach is the creative consciousness to capture the imagination by experimentation without losing the aggression of previous much-loved and craved tracks like Save Yourself, What Do I Have To Do and Shame.

Though they seemed to have lightened up noticeably, they still have the hard edged, deep darkness throughout their songs, especially in the opener, So Far Away, reminiscent of Trent Reznor and of my fave from Darkest Days –Save Yourself, where singer Christopher Hall advises his significant other that he has his own problems and is no saviour. In So Far Away, Hall frustratingly screams his need to break the silence and reach out to touch his love who forever feels so far away, just like the emptiness and loneliness he witnesses through the space between the stars. While seemingly unfeeling and indifferent, So Far Away, as with the rest of Stabbing Westward, possesses incredibly romantic undertones, full of passion and frustration. One of the more dynamic songs is The Only Thing, a hypnotic love song which is made more potent by its dramatic and haunting music. It is a dark, spacey rock track that embraces intelligent and appealing lyrics with forceful vocals hurled at the listener with intense passion. This track, along with others on Stabbing Westward, bring out the Brit-pop unrequited love type feeling.

Stabbing Westwards has a full-on English-style texture despite the fact that Stabbing Westward is a rock and roll band at heart, preferring to create their industrial noise with traditional instruments. Die-hard fans don't need to worry though. Stabbing Westward isn't really a change in direction. The slow verse/big wallowing chorus is still consistent, but it is a change in form, with the band merging the sweetest of crude, echoing atmospheric rhythms on Happy and Angel to singer Christopher Hall's inevitably sour, refined vocals on So Far Away and Wasted. It's a step towards a more modern, tight, melodic direction.

Stabbing Westward is an unyielding modern rock album, spiced up with captivating hooks, moroseness, edginess, and passionate music and performances. Christopher Hall and co. use their signature to shape songs into rousing industrial anthems that pound along on electronic sounds before setting free chunky, thrashing guitar commotion that coincide with the choruses’ bellowing, cathartic messages. Extremely liberating and therapeutic.

Reviewed by: Mary Boukouvalas