Mandragora Scream - Volturna

\r\nThe Italians “Mandragora Scream” is indeed a very peculiar case of a band and “Volturna” is their fourth and as their company suggests their most experimental release so far. Most of us when we hear that a band is serving the Dark/Gothic movement having a woman on vocals more or less we know what to expect, common electro pop melodies escorted by Operatic or more likely ethereal female vocals. Mandragora Scream seems to disobey the rule that most of the bands of the genre are composing. The lead singer Morgan Lecroix seem to have the “Batcave” movement in high esteem and this shows clearly in her singing style as she tries to follow the way of the greatest female legends of the dark wave movement like Suzie Sioux, Diamanda Galas and many more. The vocal lines are reflecting the obscurity and disharmony dwelling in Morgan’s soul so naturally that sometimes you think that she desperately tries to give out her inner thoughts sometimes by screaming in industrial grooves or singing in a more mainstream way and other times by whispering nightmarish lullabies. And as if the morbid compositions of “Volturna” weren’t enough Mandragora Scream dare to molest famous tunes like Cher’s “Bang Bang” and Visage’s “Fade to Grey”. Surely “Volturna” is an experimental album having lots of “foreign” elements which will cause controversy.  The fans of Industrial/dark wave/ Gothic genre and those of you who like the concept and style of “the 69 Eyes” should definitely check out this one.
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\r\nDimitris Karantounias \r\n

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