Clan of Xymox - Slow paced Goth music haunts Slimelights!

March 1st 2014

London, Electrowerkz (Slimelights), UK

***1/2

Traditional Goth done the way it should be!

Clan of Xymox ***1/2 have been on the Goth scene since the dawn of time and have a great body of work to back them up with, but they have not seen the heights of some of the bands that came out of the same scene as them from The Cure, The Mission or even Sisters of Mercy. Xymox as they were called when they first started always had something and like other great bands over the years were sadly over looked which is a real shame. The thing is people in the know, really respect the band that started in 1981 in the Netherlands and have seen the way they have evolved with the time over the twenty four years of existence.

Now signed up to one of my favourite record labels Metropolis they don't look out of place with the other bands on the label and their evolution has rubbed off on many of the artist on the label. Opening up the concert with 'I Close my Eyes' off their brand new album 'Matters of Mind, Body and Soul' which could be the bands most personal record yet. You can hear the band has gone back to basics on a few of the new tracks. The song really resembles The Cure and has that haunting undertone that we loved back in the beginning of Xymox. Also lead singer frontman Ronny Moorings sounds better than he has ever done before vocally so it's a real pleasure to listen to. The track is slow paced and sets a great atmosphere for a set tonight that for the majority is quite ambient.

Continuing off were the last song left off 'The Climate Changed' also off the new record continues with this quiet slow scene setting and really hits you emotional and you do think what will happen when everything in the World has changed and we have Winter in Summer and vice versa. I think this is a great check but could deal with a little pick up but some of the beats sound great and could be compared to Diary of Dreams or even Deine Lakaien, two acts that I have really fallen in love with at the moment. 'Love's on Diet' one of my favourite songs off the new record is a lot more appealing commercially than the two tracks before and really grabs like the track before on some of the later work of Diary of Dreams but also mixes it up with the traditional Xymox sound. I love the chorus of this song the most, I could listen to this over and over again on repeat, so this track really does appeal to me. I do though think it's played a little too monotone tonight and could have been given more life.

'Love got Lost' of one of the bands more Synth orientated records 'In love we Trust' has a great groove to it and get's you swaying back and forth. This song brings in hints of Depeche Mode into the mix of Cure sounding Goth music and has a real Dance beat behind it. This song really stands out in the bands set and see's them upping their game to the next level. 'In love we Trust' off the same album is also impressive and ends off the trilogy of twisted love songs at the beginning of the bands set. Ronny's vocals on this track go a little Andrew Eldridge but the song is far away from Sisters of Mercy and drags you into epic imagery of the mind, while the band play on a smoke filled stage in a venue that is legendary for this kind of music and with songs like 'Hail Mary' I think they are really accepted in.

I like how the band has separated the set into different sections for different so any they play the 'Emily' you have gotten into the music and sound of the album 'In love we Trust' and are sad to see it change but what better way to end it off with this great number that is loved by every Clan of Xymox fan. The song just has that traditional killer Goth beat to it and makes you want to wave your arms in the air and Dance. Only problem is some of the slowness in pace tonight is a little annoying and tracks like this should have been played at a faster tempo like they have been on various other times I have seen the band and it brings a little dragging to the performance, even though the music sounds great.

'Muscoviet Musquito' an older track from the band originally released back in 1987 is just superb and has a really killer bass line in it. You can't go wrong at all with material from this era and we all must have heard this track in a Goth club once in our lives. Always when I hear this I want to get to the dance floor and join in and it really sets a good scene of my past so is really nice to listen to tonight. 'Louise' for me don't really stand out and just goes by slowly and is one of the low point of the bands set for me and 'Jasmine and Rose' is not much better I think these are songs that they could of possibly left out of the set instead of leaving my favourite song 'Delete' out which was actually written on the bands setlist. So this made me a little disappointed but then again they did play so much great material any ways.

Like the track 'A Day' which has a real 80's vibe to it and killer guitar riffs, this is another track that stands out for me and launches the band back into motion and ends off the main set. This song has limited vocals but with a killer melody like it has it really doesn't need it and stands out for itself. They come back on for the first of two encores tonight and break into a track I don't know so well 'This World' but when they top it up with the ever famous Screaming Blue song 'Venus'. This song brings a sense of fun to the bands performance which has been quite dreary and moody in places, but then again it is Goth music. Their creepy version of the David Bowie number 'Heroes' also hits a note with the people in the audience and I don't think their is one person that is not mouthing the words to it as they play it with confidence (Some great hand gestures by Ronny Moorings during this track).

They come back on for the second encore with the beats ridden brilliant song 'She did not Answer' which is really enjoyable and resembles 'You didn't want Me' by Mesh in places, which is a track I really love so it appeals to me a great deal. It really bugged me for a while trying to work out were the lyrics came from and then it hit me square in the face and the song then made total sense to me. They bring it down with the track 'Back Door' which I think was a mistake, I am not such a fan of the 'Medusa' album. Their is always an album in a bands back catelogue that you don't really play and for me this is the one, I prefer other records than this one.

I think this is personal preference though and not an indication on the record because friends of mine really love this record. They end the set with classic song 'Obsession' which really closes things with style and I can't think of a better way to end things with. I did enjoy the set today and would go and see this act again and the murkiness is great at times but some of the songs are just played a little depressingly, I think they needed to mix it up a bit more and this would have been a classic performance. If your a fan of The Cure or Diary of Dreams and don't know Clan of Xymox, I do wonder where you have been because this is really up your street. True Goth legends that can't be ignored with a great back catalogue of work that is still influential in 2014.

Clan of Xymox - Setlist
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Intro / I Close my Eyes
The Climate Changed
Love's on Diet
Love got Lost
In love we Trust
Hail Mary
Emily
Muscoviet Musquito
Louise
Jasmine and Rose
Farewell
A Day
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This World
Venus
Heroes
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She did not Answer
Back Door
Obsession