Review by Rachel Jablonski
Razorblade Fairytales turned to cutting edge nightmares.
I’m standing out in the crowd four rows back and to stage right. Fixated upon the stage along with a multitude of intent onlookers, I admiringly see the one and only Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad turned three-quarters of the way around, guitar faced forward. “Thank you very much! Goodnight!” he exclaims into the mic while sharply strumming his instrument one last time. “Good Charlotte is next!” The crowd roars in approval as I cringe in disgust. Devin Townsend opening for Good Charlotte? What kind of piercing unreality could I possibly be in? Before I can further examine this contemptible situation, familiar sound begins to saturate the room quickly alerting me from my appalled stupor.
“Dollies don’t speak, keep your mouth shut, I’ll wrap you up in plastic, bet you’d make a pretty little package…”
“Hey, I know this band!” I excitedly proclaim to a random group of strangers, “This is Hate in the Box from New York!” Recognizing the song called “Porcelain” ringing from the PA system has lifted my spirits, but the blank expressions around me do not share in amusement as they impatiently await their horrid headliner. My mood again becomes somber as I now see Good Charlotte emerge from behind the urine colored curtain. The crowd explodes and simultaneously I awake with a sharp jolt from my disturbing slumber.
For quite some time now I have been engulfed in the discernible pleasures of Razorblade Fairytales. However, it was not until my subconscious released the song “Porcelain” to my REM cycles two days ago that I found just how truly compelling the album can be. The playful singsong of the vocals is hauntingly addictive; a rhythmic outpouring of fractured innocence. The core of the album, consisting of dark, organic musical undertones, often beautifully contrasts with more upbeat overtones and tempos. Notably unavoidable physical imagery is also burned helplessly into the mind, radiantly crafted through flowing vocals and intricate lyrics. Razorblade Fairytales is overall nothing short of brilliantly combined polar opposites fused together, twisted and turned, sliced and mended into an audio-visual work of art.
Upbeat rhythms openly oppose a dramatic downpour of organ sounding gloom in the beginning of “Cannibal’s Love Song.” Vocals bring forth a burst of energy commanding the surrender of focus and attention. The various layers of instrumentation contrast not only in tone, but often also in tempo as well creating an agreeable blend of perceptible chaos.
Audacious and descriptive lyrics produce relentless physical imagery throughout the album as well. Societal stereotypes of dolls, ballerinas, and females in general, all of whom are subjects continuously used in Razorblade Fairytales, may allow for an expectation of nurturing and innocent characterization. However, the perceivably harmless doll-like characters attempt, yet fail to mask an outpouring of sexual insinuations and violent notions as is quite illustrious in “Malevolent Symphony.”
“Throats choking on a kiss, legs splayed – penetrated by a bar through the ribs… spinning till they hit the ground undaunted… dancing white the blood runs out, you watch them dance, pretty marionettes, mouths open wide so their tongues can attach…”
Despite a sense of unsettling discomfort easily experienced in listening to the album, a definite appeal is also heavily present. The sounds on this rhythmically sharp display of musical creativity are unmistakable. Razorblade Fairytales with its raw sound, gloomy implications, furious tempos, and circus-like wholeness has significantly caught my attention both consciously and, as I have recently found, subconsciously as well.