I’ve been a fan of Diavol Strain for a long time now and got to see their only show in New Orleans back before the pandemic lockdown. A two-piece band is not new to goth and instantly conjures excited images of Suspiria for me. While there’s a resemblance of that and other classic acts to their sound, expecting a rehash of someone else’s style would be folly. There’s elements of pastiche you could use to point out comparisons for sure, but the band stands in a rather unique space.
Take their vocal delivery. Singer Lau M could be compared to progenitors of dark female vocal stylings like Siouxsie, Gitane Demone or Anja Huwe for sure but there’s a unique enunciation and a particular way her shaping of the words interacts with the dense reverb. Perhaps some of this is also influenced by Chilean pronunciation on the vocals, which are sung in Spanish. If so, the people who want a homogenized, Eurocentric origin story for the scene should take note as acts from outside their narrow worldview only enrich the culture we all embrace. The voice carrying each message found on these releases is sumptuous, alternating warm croon with cold proclamations, and taunting us to endure the tempest of visuals contained in each song.
You may cry, “But what of the song itself??” Well, I’d tell you not to start your sentence with a conjunction. Regardless, the instrumentation is no less fierce. Drum machine programming is a particular skill, and bands like the Sisters of Mercy favor four-on-the-floor, driving rock beats (and jaunty hats) while other bands may experiment with more open, deconstructed rhythms exemplified by Pornography-era The Cure, Virgin Prunes or Xmal Deutschland. Yes, I know none of those bands strictly relied on drum machines, that’s besides the point. There’s a drumming style in goth and deathrock that I can only call “skittering.” The mechanical repetitiousness and simplicity underpins how a machine never loses rhythm but forces the human driver to put accents and flourishes in spots a conventional drummer might not think to. The joys of using a grid and clicking buttons to say “thud here, then clang three times there.” Somehow this style combines with that sliver of synthesized sound in most drum samples and creates an alien, spidery sensation right in line with the grand guignol stylings of the typical lyrical matter.
Opening track “Sacrificio” is exemplary of this, on the whole straight up intimidating as it relentlessly stomps away while still maintaining a skittering pattern that never stops being terribly danceable and cuts through ominous synth arrangements. That alone is an accomplishment, but the whole album showcases lurching, catchy drumbeats without falling into dance music tropes. The synths seem calculated to remove any vestige of warmth so you don’t get comfy in your seat as they build each song, a mini-opus depicting the Ride of the Alien Valkyries. Weaving through it all is cavernous guitar and bass, set aside but working in unison to create a chilling atmosphere. “En La Eternidad” starts by accompanying massive church bells in the distance with what sounds like guitar pick slides through heavy reverb, a disorienting introduction that would fit perfectly in a Dario Argento scene. “Venus 17” starts out with a riff and beat that immediately call to mind Screams For Tina borrowing drumloops from Children On Stun. That might be the greatest strength of their releases so far: they take a lesson from each of their influences but find disparate elements which work together and filter it through a unique prism to infuse it with their own color of light. Er, dark. Spooky, spoooooooky dark. Stuffed with bat-flavored filling, or something.
Call it goth, call it post-punk or experimental horror something, whatever you want to label it as long as you don’t stop talking about it. This is a truly unique band adding their own vision to our scene, and they deserve to be on everyone’s lips when discussing fresh voices in the fog-drenched darkness of our dancehalls. Find their entire catalog here.
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