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Kill Shelter - Damage | Review

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Akill

Kill Shelter - Damage

Unknown Pleasures / Manic Depression

November 2018 / June 2019

Kill Shelter's "Damage" album reveals all the beautifully cold and dark ambience of Pete Burns's country, Scotland.

Kill Shelter is the music project of Edinburgh based multi-instrumentalist, producer and remixer Pete Burns. Pete Burns has gathered together a group of artists whose talents are already well known and appreciated. Each one of them has given his/her point of view in darkness and Kill Shelter created a debut album that could be a guide to cold and dark wave paths, influenced by post-punk sounds and perhaps a really gothic mood.

Pete Burns collects all his influences and adopts them to some great music writings. Absolutely matched to each artist featured on every song.

In "Damage", Kill Shelter hosts some of the most talented artists in recent dark wave music. And by saying dark wave music I mean all of its forms. From the 80's cold wave influenced Antipole, the cold, post-punk, gothic Undertheskin to the synth influenced Hante and New Haunts. Pete Burns and Kill Shelter created a collection of songs that compile a really great dark, gothic album.

"Damage" features vocal contributions and collaborations with Hante. (FR), Buzz Kull (AUS), Delphine Coma (US), Antipole (NOR), undertheskin (PL), Killjoi (US), The Shyness of Strangers (CA), Pedro Code (Iamtheshadow - PT), Nate Jespersen (ultrviolence - CA), New Haunts (UK) and Bragolin (NL).

As Pete Burns comments "...I wanted to create an album that was reflective and representative of the scene as is stands today from a global perspective..." and that is exactly what "Damage" is about.

It is really hard for me to choose any of the songs as a favourite. Every piece of "Damage" tells its own story. A dramatic, melancholic, sometimes a love betrayal story, revealing cold feelings and darkness. There is really gothic spirit, touching the lines of The Sisters of Mercy and other gothic legends, in "In Decay feat. Antipole and Delphine Coma" and in "No Regrets ft Undertheskin". A post-punk strength in "The Happening feat. Killjoi", in "Black String feat. Nate Jespersen" and in "Get Down ft The Shyness of Strangers".

Then, it is the darkness in other songs, with their cold wave sounds, like the "As Trees Do Fall ft Bragolin", "Bodies ft Buzz Kull" and "Hollow ft. Pedro Code", while an emotional and melancholic atmosphere is being created with the melodies and the voices in "Kiss Me Goodbye ft Hante" and "Sever ft New Haunts".

Music in all songs has been carefully composed by Pete Burns with strong basslines when it is necessary, as in "In Decay" or in "As Trees Do Fall" and in "Get Down", powerful drum beats in some moments while the beat is going in low tempo in others, and fuzzing guitars and catchy synths in order to complete the dark atmosphere.

Kill Shelter has managed to blend a variety of dark voices and feelings into a collection of sounds that represents the "Damage" that many factors could cause in someone's life. A unique dark album, that fits in everyone's dark music selections.

"Damage" was released from Unknown Pleasures in November 2018, and on vinyl in June 2019 from Manic Depression Records.