KITSHICKERS - Horror Vacui

22 songs
99:26 minutes
***** ***
(self released)

Bandpage

It is a known fact that the Kitshickers have been different from other Luxembourgish bands for the last one and a half decade. Their fifteenth anniversary has been celebrated with a new album which has been released as a double vinyl LP and a digital download. The band decided against pressing CDs. Nearly one year earlier, the band started a crowdfunding action to get the necessary means to allow them this extravagant record. Fans could not only pay for the album, but also for babysitting, pizza evenings and dog walking.

The Kitshickers have never sounded the same on any of their albums, and therefore one shouldn’t be surprised that their sixth album Horror Vacui once again offers something new. The only constant is that the band does concept albums.

In the past the Kitshickers were occasionally criticised for the vocals that were not to everyone’s taste, even though some thought that they were one of the band’s unmistakable trademarks. This time Gilles concentrates his energies solely on his guitar playing, so that most tracks are entirely instrumental. This is in my opinion also the reason why the band evolves more and more into post rock territory.

Three tracks come with vocals from guest singers that all are active in metal bands (An Apple A Day, Majestic Unicorns From Hell, Cosmogon). Otherwise we get occasional spoken word samples from documentaries dealing with finance, social and especially environmental issues… which is why the vinyl LPs have been packed into 80% recycled cardboard. Spoken word samples are quite the thing with people right now, so we should wait and see if this approach will attract new fans or possibly criticism for being too close to Heartbeat Parade who have been doing this for a few years now already.

No matter if you prefer the Kitshickers’ older CDs or their newer material, Horror Vacui has become an album that deserves your attention. With a hundred minutes of music, you will of course find some tracks you like better than others, but most of the time you can expect proper post rock with a healthy dose of noise rock. At times the band is playing with psychedelic and fuzzy elements, with the latter often resulting in truly hard hitting metal. Even expect some Indian sounds, and Neutronium surprises with dark jazz with an authentic film noir atmosphere. So there is certainly something for everyone, and now it is only up to you if you want to go for the affordable digital download or the more luxurious double vinyl edition.