Stridulum II

What’s the story?

Zola Jesus, classically trained American singer/songwriter and Former Ghosts member Nika Danilova, injects new life into Goth. Even if that is a contradiction in terms.

What does it sound like?

Industrial pulses, dark rumbles, stitched together in a way that is more uplifting than nightmarish. And that voice, which can sound out of this world and yet so deeply, painfully human all at once. Spiritualism painted black, but with a heart of gold.

Highlights?

Night, the album’s opener, is like darkness rising up out of itself, while Manifest Destiny is a song of epic, should have soundtracked Lord Of The Rings, proportions.

Lowlights?

Title track Stridulum does drag its feet a little.

Verdict?

Black magic.