Calgary Alberta. The home of the famous (infamous) Stampede and land of cowboys north of the border. It is also the home of Poltergeist – self proclaimed Death rockers extraordinaire. Frontman Kalen Baker was in trad metal band Whyte Diamond (shivers) in his teens but has now taken a step into the dark world of eyeliner and hairspray with this ghostly crew.
Now poltergeists are known to be mischievous blighters, causing rumblings and movement of objects whilst remaining unseen. Well the unseen ghost that haunts this Poltergeist is the influence of the band Unto Others (formerly Idle Hands) . There is a hell of a lot of that band’s sound present in Nachtmusik, but Baker’s vocals are more pop punk than Gabriel Franco’s deep Gothic tones. But, this is no bad thing. The vocals sound great and stop the band sounding like merely a tribute. Sure there is no getting away from the similarities and the fact that this is coming out a few weeks after Unto Others brilliant Never, Neverland may either help or hinder the Albertans quest. They are playing shows with Unto Others on Halloween so fans will get a chance to compare and contrast in the live arena.
Nachtmusik begins with the atmospheric synth melancholy of “Einfurung” which gives me a Dance With The Dead /John Carpenter vibe before “Burning Sword” kicks off with some classic Yankee death rock riffs and basslines. It is a catchy as the Black Death even though the ending sounds like it could have been written by Chat G(oth)PT – “ La dee da la dee da die” . Daft gothy fun.
That just about describes the whole album – “Ethereal Nightmare” opens with another classic goff bassline – if you were ever a fan of the Nightbreed label from the 90’s and had any of their label samplers your ears will prick up like the labels mascot. The “Ooogh” that brings the vocals in is pure Unto Others but as Gen Z say “I am here for it”.
If John Hughes ghost were to become a Poltergeist he could not write a more Hughesesque gothic track than “Cold in September” . If Andie Walsh had been going to a darkwave club at the end of Pretty in Pink instead of a prom, this song woulda been playing. Peter Hook style bass and a corny but damn wonderful catchy chorus. It’s goffic guff but it is enormous fun.
“Yesterday Fades” fades from my memory pretty quickly – like a lighter Crematory or poppy era PL. It fits with the mood of the album but is eminently skippable. The title track is more instrumental filler with some cod 80’s guitar histrionics on it – should be a sax for that Lost Boys/Gunship kudos.
“Children of the Dark” could easily be summat that was left off Mana by Idle Hands – nice groove and had me grinning and bopping. “Swallowed by the Ocean” has the electro acoustic stylings of The Mission and will allow for plenty of arm waving whilst The Damned cast their shadow over “ Will We Ever Live Again”. “Walking Alone” takes me back to Psychedelic Furs and their radio friendly (and John Hughes friendly) take on New Wave. Again it is catchy like a spittoon in Fields of the Nephillim’s Stevenage saloon.
As you can read Poltergeist have taken some great bits of the general darkwave Gothic scene of the last thirty years. I find myself unsure if this broad brush approach is a calculated buy in to a re-emerging scene of authentic passion. Either way despite the lack of originality and some sections of filler I have really enjoyed this album and I can see me going back to it again and again for a black bubble-gum gothic fix.
(7/10 Matt Mason)
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