TANGO MANGALORE

The spooky sailor and Greek weirdo Tango Mangalore is back with a third album, this time released by one of the best Darkwave labels out there, Fabrika Records (home to Selofan, She Past Away, and many more). Dear Shore comes after two fantastic previous albums, Comandante Macabro and the super weird Contra Los Vampiros Y Hombre Lobo Discoteca (a collaboration with Doctor Mutanto), and in a way, it completes those two records, like a collection of scary stories for children.

However, Dear Shore is also the most serious Tango Mangaore album to date. The spooky playfulness is still there, a trait that links it to the beloved Deathrock Revival scene from the early 2000s, only now it's gotten darker, more menacing than ever. The vocal performance is straightforward and powerful, sometimes almost bluesy but without losing any of its dramatic and uncomfortable quality. The album is kinda Coldwave rhythmically speaking but completely different in terms of sound, vocals and of the overall atmosphere it conveys. Songs like "Momentum" or the title track "Dear Shore" are good examples of this. It's like a Deathrock album that's built around the keyboards, and with no guitars whatsoever.

Tango Mangalore is an artist who, being aware of the entire Goth/Darkwave tradition, chooses to do something completely personal and original with it. On this album, available through the Fabrika Records webstore, he has managed to create the musical equivalent of reading a nice collection of William Hope Hodgson's maritime ghost stories. Delightfully dark stuff.

Gustavo A. ROSELINSKY
08/03/2018