Voltaire fans might be in for a bit of a startle with this album. Although his Old World gypsy-goth musicality is still in evidence, the subject matter of Then and Again is a far cry from the morbidly humorous lyricism of Voltaire’s past efforts. Sure, some of the songs on Boo Hoo were real tear-jerkers, but never before has Voltaire presented such a palette of raw emotion. The best of the songs range from the philosophical “The Happy Song” and the bittersweet “Wall of Pride” to the pondering of crime and punishment in “Born Bad” and a faithful rendition of The Cure’s “Lovesong”. A bit of whimsy does sneak in at the end with “Goodnight, Demonslayer”, but otherwise this is a serious affair. It is also a particularly strong selection of songs; the only one that is a bit of a letdown is the opener “Crusade”, which, while a truly beautiful medieval-esque ballad featuring Michael Laird of Unto Ashes, mixes metaphors a little too much for my liking and detracts from the overall anti-war message of the song.

There are no comments yet. You could be the first!