tempobet yeni adresi
like this cd review

10/12/2016 : EUROPEAN GHOST - Pale And Sick

EUROPEAN GHOST

Pale And Sick

MusicCD
Dark WaveElectronicsGothicPost Punk

[81/100]   

Unknown Pleasures Records
10/12/2016, Didier BECU

The older I get, the more I associate Italy with dark music. No longer sunny beaches or other clichés come up in my mind when someone mentions Italy. The amount of Italian bands you absolutely have to discover grows day by day. European Ghost is the next one. With the death of Europe coming closer every minute, the band’s name is perfectly chosen. But also musically it feels like a ghost that is touching your shoulder. Pale And Sick is the band’s debut, released on the very fine French Unknown Pleasures Records. Ten songs that make the world (or at least yours) stop for a while.

The CD opens with Trip On Mars which can be best described as mysterious dark pop. It’s the sort of music David Lynch would make if he had been a post-punk fan. Preset is something completely different. The music is dominated by a heavy bass that goes straight through your body. It has nothing to do with the fact that both bands come from Italy, but this track comes close to the superb sound of Ash Code. Post-punk at its best.

European Ghost really makes it difficult for those who like to pigeonhole music, as the title track Pale And Sick is a bizarre combination of EBM and electro punk in the style of Chrome and Suicide. A repetitive sound, and a drum machine that sounds as a drill.

European Ghost has been compared with Clan Of Xymox and once Lost Highway begins (oh, they like David Lynch too!) it’s clear why, as this song has the same dark synth pattern and that sort of atmosphere, a tune which leads you to a place named melancholy.

Also in The Spiral you can hear those typical new wave guitars that made Medusa or Pornography great classics, but again you’re facing a different side of this Italian band. It’s contemporary post-punk with a Factory spirit.

August In Winter is the perfect example that European Ghost doesn’t dwell in the past. The macabre post-punk is as good as say She Past Away. Not that European Ghost sounds like the famous Turkish duo. It’s just that not many people know what European Ghost stands for, so you have to start somewhere, not? Anyway, you could compare the band with hundreds of bands, the only factor that stays the same is that you always have to compare it with other brilliant acts.

Sex In Kepler is another excellent example. The song begins with a deafening drum machine, while in the background you hear an alarming wave guitar by Mario Dada d’Anelli, then comes the bass by Giuseppe Taibi and finally the sombre voice of Cristiano Bionde drops in. Perfect.

Trip In The Night has a perfect title as this is enigmatic arty post-punk. Perhaps this track needs some extra spins before it gets a definite place in your head, but it gets there nonetheless. The final track European Ghost flirts with the early sound of Cabaret Voltaire and Mute.

Pale And Sick is a very diverse album, but always dark! Recommended, absolutely!

Didier BECU
10/12/2016


 

Next reviews
ANDREW TRAIL (BLACK LIGHT ASCENSION) • Albums That Changed My Life
PAUL MCCARTNEY • Werchter, Rock Werchter (30/06/2016)
GUTTERDAMMERUNG • Werchter, The Barn, Rock Werchter (30/06/2016)
GUY GARVEY • Werchter, The Barn, Rock Werchter (30/06/2016)
KATE RYAN • Comment Te Dire Adieu
NIGHT BEATS • Who Sold My Generation
SON OF SAM • The Collapse of Ancient Funk vol. 2
DAS PROJEKT • Les Belles Infidèles
YVES SCHELPE (PSY'AVIAH) • Ten Albums That Changed My Life
DAGEIST • Dendermonde, Mina's Irish Pub (25/06/2016)

 

Other reviews from EUROPEAN GHOST
EUROPEAN GHOST • Collection Of Shadows
EUROPEAN GHOST • Collections Of Shadows

 

Same genre: DARK WAVE
ENZO KREFT • Dictator
GROUND NERO • Blood Never Sleeps
THE DREAMSIDE • Dreams Beyond The Veil
KALTE NACHT • The Last Breath
PARTIKUL • Having Gone
THIS VALE OF TEARS • This Vale Of Tears
KILL SHELTER • Asylum
BALVANERA • Courses of Action
THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE • Fascination
DIRK DA DAVO • King Of Fools

 

Same genre: ELECTRONICS
DIRK DA DAVO • Running Up The Hilside (3 track single)
CODE INDIGO • Endgame - The Best Moves
A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS • Some Dreams
THE LIGHT DREAMS • Málverk
BHPL • Our Love Can Destroy The World
PLAN C • Rewind
OTHER-ED • Until All Are Free
CAUGHT IN JOY • Out Of Nowhere
[MELTER] • [melter]
THE LIGHT DREAMS • Tricks of the Light

 

Same genre: GOTHIC
THE CURE • Songs Of A Lost World
ROSETTA STONE • Under The Weather
DER KLINKE • Facing Fate
NFD • Trinity
THE MARS MODEL • Primal Urge
FEATHER TRADE • Dead Boy
TWO WITCHES • The Undead
DARK • Nightmare
ANTHONY JONES • Farewell To Flesh
JESU • When I Was Small

 

Same genre: POST PUNK
SUBATOMIC STRANGERS • Resuwrecked
RED LORRY YELLOW LORRY • Strange Kind Of Paradise
BRIDES • Sandcastle
BLACK ROSE MOVES • Death Dance
SUBTERFUGE • Dividing Times
BLACK RAIN • Black Rain
GHOSTING • All Your Dreams
THE FUNERAL MARCH • It All Falls Apart
THE VERY THINGS • Mr. Arc-Eye (Under A Cellophane Sky)
THE ULTIMATE DREAMERS • Paradoxical Sleep

Music reviews

09
10
NERO/GRIS
Silenci
07
10
SUBATOMIC STRANGERS
Resuwrecked
01
10
BLOKKONTROLL
I-II-III
28
09
SUNSHINE BLIND
Scarred but Fearless
27
09
DARK MINIMAL PROJECT
Pleasure Is A Sin
26
09
PROMENADE CINEMA
Afterlife

NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

NEWS

14
10
43 years of “Wahre Arbeit, Wahrer Lohn” by Die Krupps: A Blueprint for Industrial Resistance
09
10
Baby Turns Blue and 43 today!
03
10
BIMFEST XXIII – 2026 - Full Line-Up Announced!
28
09
De Delvers announces third full-lenght album 'Zwarte Siroop'
27
09
CURSE MACKEY Unveils ‘Imaginary Enemies’, A Darkwave Descent Into Grief & Revelation
25
09
Today, exactly 38 years ago The Klinik released 'Plague'!

Concert reviews

17
08
KRAFTWERK
Royal Palace Open Air - Brussels - August 14 2025
22
04
GAVIN FRIDAY
Live at 404 / De Vooruit - Ghent - 01/04.2025
28
11
BELGIAN ELECTROWAVE IS NOT DEAD 3
Belgian ElectroWave Is Not Dead 3

GET A COPY OF OUR MAGAZINE
SEND TO YOUR HOME

INTERVIEWS

27
09
CORPUS DELICTI
''All is quiet, the motion's cold. I face the wind as I'm taking the road.''
18
09
WHISPERS IN THE SHADOW
This album isn’t about bashing religion and faith. That would be a pretty cheap trick.
17
09
ZWAREMACHINE
We were able to secure the support slot for Front 242. Everything was looking positive until Bas’s cancer reemerged and there were complications.
27
08
BEAUTIFUL FREAKIN' WEIRDO
An Interview With UK Industrial Metal Act, Beautiful Freakin' Weirdo
29
07
EX-VOTO
“Decisions. In a modern time. Transmissions. From the inner mind.“

PHOTOS

21
09
KRUPPS
Kulttempel Oberhausen
12
09
ULTRA SUNN
De Casino St Niklaas
12
09
ULTRA SUNN
De Casino St Niklaas
08
09
AUX ANIMAUX SUPPORT SHE PAST AWAY
Kulttempel Oberhausen
07
09
SHE PAST AWAY
Kulttempel Oberhausen
17
08
NEW MODEL ARMY
Summerkultur Dinslaken
23
07
DUCTAPE
Amphi Festival Keulen

ADVERTISE
IN PEEK-A-BOO

VIDEO CLIPS

17
10
ZANIAS
Unseen (Official Video)
16
10
DOPE
Blood Money
15
10
SOFT CELL
Martin (The Hacker 2025 Remix)
14
10
DARK MINIMAL PROJECT
Schlafen !
13
10
PEAK FLOW
Don't Die In Your Sleep (Remix)
13
10
CRASH COURSE IN SCIENCE
Flying Turns (Live @ BIM 2009)
12
10
COCTEAU TWINS
Hazel