Deviance Down- Vicious

Deviance Down’s debut full-length is full of promise, showing a modern gothic rock band with the genre-crossing freedom of such scene luminaries as Alien Sex Fiend, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult and even 45 Grave. Uneven execution, however, keeps this album from being all it could be. Things start interestingly enough with “Autopsy Divine,” a gloomy soundscape with ethereal vocals emerging from ambient drones, then proceed into the more straight-up rock ‘n’ roll of “Call Me Crazy,” with its dark but freewheeling guitar solos. “Clear Blue World” is decent if slightly bland alternative rock with orchestral keyboard effects thrown in for flavor, but some dated-sounding vocal production mars its commercial potential. “Cell” is far better, with a driving drum machine and lots of playfully frightening multi-layered vocal effects, and “Addiction” is groovy in a death rock meets New Wave kind of way, with sampled moans, whispered vocals and punk rock power chords. By the second half of the CD, however, things start to fall apart. “Complicated” sees lead singer Melinda D’Ora shooting for the deliriously evil fun of Dinah Cancer but doesn’t quite hit the mark, while “Nothing Better” ruins the tribal ambience of its intro by launching into an amateurish moping rock song. “You” is a bit better, starting off soft as a lullaby with gently picked guitars and muffled organs before bursting in with an unexpected burst of hard rock bellowing, and “A Final Taste” closes things out with a bit of retro drum machine and creepy staccato vocal work. There’s definite potential here, and Deviance Down’s willingness to explore everything from old-school darkwave to new school rock is refreshing, but this album just doesn’t have the experience behind it to bring in a big audience. Once they’ve been around a bit longer, written a few more songs and polished up their production, they’ll really have something exciting.

Visit the Deviance Down website at www.deviancedown.com.