The Birthday Massacre

I wanted to post about The Birthday Massacre as they are fresh on my mind. I’ve just found out they released a new album last year and I didn’t even know about it. Or maybe I forgot. Either way it pissed me off a little.

When I first discovered this band I devoured everything they made and they were pretty much all I listened to for a while. They had a pretty good internet presence as well and engaged with fans.

It wasn’t your usual shit like, “here’s a photo of us with some other famous people so like it because we’re all famous and that’s why you should like us” bollocks. They’d put cool secret stuff on their site for fans to figure out and find, actual interesting things relevant to the music.

Anyway they are primarily a rock band and are lumped under all kinds of categories (which seem more and more convoluted by the day). A lot of their music has a very synth heavy 80’s tinge but they also make harder metal all blended with a slightly Goth rock sound. The lyrics tend to be dark and brooding which is often in contrast to the lighter synth sound.

There is a kind of fairytale / fantasy vibe to a lot of their music.

“Nothing and Nowhere” (2002) is their first album and overall it’s great but standout tracks for me are –
Happy Birthday
Under the Stairs
To Die For
Video Kid

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/album/1TLfDjKODgdMhly3mmH2oc?si=74ueXesBQ9qxkK0xSG4wKA

For “Violet” (2005) their second album they remade some of their tracks along with some new ones. Standout tracks –
Happy Birthday (Slightly punchier but essentially the same)
Play Dead
Blue (Such a schizophrenic mix of metal and gentle synths and Chibis vocals are amazing. I love it!)
Video Kid (Again slightly punchier)
Holiday

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/album/6nCedzR6IFQomTRytXZKAs?si=zsc8IODqSg2mxz50Cdn2sw

“Walking With Strangers” (2007) is their third album. Standout tracks –
Kill the Lights
Goodnight
Looking Glass
Walking With Strangers (One of their best songs. Period.)

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/album/4wK4A7mb7aEoykUajfWjZP?si=5OMUER_cRhm-ukEF1rOsWA

“Pins and Needles” (2010) is their fourth album. Standout tracks –
In the Dark (Also one of their best. It’s a bit like “Blue” but more coherent)
Control (Another of their best)

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/album/6VoutwXXcQBDbcZlmlYbxc?si=aAagWS92QTKbdKnFmtp-Ow

“Hide and Seek” (2012) is their fifth album. They ran a competition for fans to make videos for all the tracks. The winners became the official videos. Standout tracks –
Leaving Tonight
Down
One Promise (This would be a good fit on the Walking With Strangers album. It’s pretty punchy.)

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/album/2K405hzAGASXRASPO1ugWg?si=ncfzdlnIQBys3ekvQdLoOA

“Superstition” (2014) is their sixth album. It’s a good album and none of the tracks are bad but nothing really grabs me. If I had to choose one, I like “The Other Side” the best. It has a pretty good light / heavy thing going on and sounds a little different to the rest of the album.

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/album/6aj1YT8WOF6mQBtk7nuOGo?si=lr-Po46RSsq2h4CUrhX5Iw

“Under Your Spell” (2017) is their seventh album. Standout tracks –
All Of Nothing
Counterpane (Love the slightly off kilter guitar riff)
Unkind (Sounds like a heavy 90’s Shoegaze track. Love it)
Games
Hex
No Tomorrow (An even heavier Shoegaze hybrid)
The Lowest Low
(Hmmm seems I really liked that album!)

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/album/4ndJxe42Hbq0J2GpNGqrQw?si=oVp_4WimT-q752_TFsmKMA

“Diamonds” (2020) is their eighth album. Standout tracks –
Enter (I wasn’t sure about this one at first but the way it keeps changing makes it interesting)
Diamonds (“Hide me from the world” – I think I feel like this pretty much every day)
Flashback
Mirrors

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/album/1VNFWHGOrDuZH70xJYmO7w?si=sNxBBXuuRBuufUciIg5Ovg

“Imagica” (2016) collects together early demos when the band was still called Imagica (after a Clive Barker novel). Standout tracks –
The Birthday Massacre (This is where the band got their name. Later remade as “Happy Birthday”. This is pretty basic up to later versions)
Nothing and Nowhere (They used the name for an album. I like it. It sounds like they used parts of it in other tracks. Needs a remake)
Open Your Heart (Cover of the Madonna song from “True Blue”. They do a pretty good job but I still prefer the original, that album is a classic)
From Out Of Nowhere (Cover of the Faith No More original. It’s ok. It’s FNM so it’s kinda fucking compulsory)
Dead (I just want to turn this up until my ears start to bleed. It just sounds so fucking raw 🙂 )

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/album/77aobWwOXvcFBDhLn5LGoH?si=8JwpbjduRieJbBRZQXk8ag