Music Review: The Cruxshadows - The Mystery of the Whisper

It's been a while since I last mused over an album. I finally got around to buying one of my favorite Curxshadows albums, The Mystery of the Whisper.

The cover to the 2CD re-issue with their breakthrough album, The Mystery of the Whisper, and a rare EP, Until the Voices Fade...

Depending who you talk to, The Cruxshadows are considered Dark Electro, Goth Rock, Dark Wave, etc. Basically, we'll go with some form of modernized creepy pasta and call it a day (I'm not much into debating what genre something is and isn't. They aren't country and that's good enough for me).

Cruxshadows formed in 1992 with Rogue, Sean Flanagan, and Tim Curry (no, not THE Time Curry of Rocky Horror fame. I know, I was also slightly disappointed) in Florida. 1996 saw the release of Telemetry of a Fallen Angel which produced their first single, Marilyn, My Bitterness, and brought some modest attention to the group. The Mystery of the Sound came out in 1999. Over time, several changes have occurred in the line up with Rogue remaining as the only original member. They have, until recent times, been a band that has spent more time touring each year than actually sitting at home doing more domestic sorts of things. Based on the Twitter account for the band run by Rogue, it seems a new album is in the mix.

The current line-up for The Cruxshadows. I don't know them well enough to say who is who, but Rogue is the third from the left and his wife is one of the women. I know, so helpful.

Now, I do want to mention some things I find really cool about Rogue. First, he is the heir to the Du Pont legacy. You know, Du Pont. Those guys that seem to make everything chemical related. Yeah, he's part of that. Instead of taking a back seat to life and living the rich life, Rogue actually worked hard in school being one of those smart kids, founded a poetry club, lettered in something, competed nationally in speech and debate tournaments, and was an officer in the JROTC, among other things. He then went on to study art and music at FSU, graduating magna cum laude. Regardless of whether you like him and his band or not, you must admit he kind of defines the whole "overachiever" thing.

Rogue. He actually isn't as angry as he looks in this photo.

So, all that said, let's get to the album. This is an album with some references to Egyptian lore (but only a few). The album starts with the mostly instrumental Isis & Osiris (Life/Death). It has a nice vibe, good instrumentation, and sets the tone for the album. Being an instrumental track with some kind of singing in the background (not sure if it's supposed to be based on the language of the ancient Egyptians or what), there isn't much to say.

The next track, Cruelty, is perhaps one of my favorites from the band. The intro is a bit electronic meets organ. Great way to start the song as it's very mysterious. I don't like to delve much into song meanings as I still contend songs mean different things for different people. It is possible this is one of the angst-y sorts of songs as the chorus goes, in part: "Cruelty and consequence cannot eliminate this relevance, your selfishness, your hatefulness cannot take away my innocence from me." Regardless of the meaning, it's a song with a good beat and music, if nothing else. Check it out for yourself. And no, I have no idea what's going on in the video. And yes, Rogue's hair is kind of distracting:

Next is Leave Me Alone. Yes, perhaps another angst-y song, at best. But it seems to speak to a dilemma the Goth crowd often faces. Gallivant in public wearing all black and people stare at you and glare at your back. The character in this song seems to be speaking to someone else, possibly a love interest or just a friend. They're trying to get this second person to leave them alone because they are "a freak" and so forth. It isn't necessarily that the main character really wants this person to leave them alone so much as it may be "Hey, understand, the world thinks I'm a freak and they all stare at me wherever I go." Good song to listen to, though I don't necessarily agree with the slant. We all get weird looks from people, so why encourage a possible friend/romance away because you, like everyone else, get odd looks from people?

Most of the remaining songs sound similar enough (except Sympathy (For Tomorrow) which is focused more on piano and violin with cleaner vocals). I can understand why The Cruxshadows may not be in the libraries of every person with a taste for creepy pasta. The lyrics tend to be very simplistic (at least on this early album) and don't do much for fending off certain Goth stereotypes. I listen to this album more for the music than the words.



Rating: 4 out of 5 (like I said, good music, but the lyrics leave more to be desired)
More information: Official Cruxshadows Website