Gothtronic, an online 'zine in the Netherlands is a great source for online music news, and it's not just because they really liked Two Headed Monster.
After the adventures in the side-project The Secret meeting with Dean Garcia (Curve), Collide is now back with a new album named Two Headed Monster. Each album of the darkwave rock band Collide is musically a strong album. That quality can also be found on Two Headed Monster. Like no other Collide manages to merge influences into their own unique sound, in which elements from triphop, gothicrock, industrial and metal are combined.
Collide is a band that really can be labeled as a band that defies genre borders. Singer kaRIN delivers her sensual vocals to the music due to which, next to the dark atmosphere, it gets a romantic touch. Collide knows like no other how to translate the traditional mystery of gothic to a modern state-of-the-art electrorock sound. The arrangements, programming and songs produced by Statik are mostly well done and of course the sound is flawless. We don’t expect anything else from Statik given his experience as producer.
Highlights on this new Collide studio album, which gets released five years after the previous album Some Kind of Strange, are a.o. the uptempo song ‘Chaotic’, immediately followed by the playful sounding song ‘A Little Too Much’, which next to an infectious guitar sound, also flirts with pop music which makes it a very radio friendly tune. The song ‘Pure Bliss’ represents the hypnotic touch in the Collide sound, which most probably finds its roots in the psychedelic music from the 60s and 70s. ‘Spaces in Between’ transports the Collide sound towards the dance floor of the industrial clubs.
The energy, accessibility and danceability in most of the tracks on the first half of the Two Headed Monster album is the most striking change compared to the more ethereal work on the previous album. The song ‘Silently Creeping’ however is the exception that sets the rule as this slowly compelling track with low-pitched guitar which almost sounds like a metal type of guitar, really grabs the listener by the throat. ‘Head Spin’ is next and this is the kind of swirly swinging tune with pop sensibilities you can find more in the oeuvre of Collide, of which the contrast with the previous track couldn’t be much bigger.
Title track ‘Two Headed Monster’ combines a triphop rhythm with the grandeur of a symphony orchestra. In ‘Shifting’ almost the same majestic touch is combined with a dark atmosphere in an almost soundtrack like track. The album is closed with the dreamy song ‘Utopia’. Again it can be noticed that KaRIN’s voice is a strong asset to this new album. Collide obviously has been undergoing a remarkable musical growth and have found new musical grounds due to their collaboration with Dean Garcia (Curve) and again this really comes forward in their new album Two Headed Monster. Two Headed Monster is without doubt the best album Collide has made so far.
