Dead Can Dance – The Serpent’s Egg

Once you turn eighteen and your teen angst starts to subside, goth music feels silly. I can’t listen to Bauhaus or Sisters Of Mercy without feeling like I’m trying to recapture something that wasn’t that great to begin with. Dead Can Dance are transitional goth music. The industrial rhythms aren’t as noisy, and the medievalism doesn’t mope. The Serpent’s Egg has the deliberate anachronism that sets goth rock apart, but it isn’t depressing, since the lyrics are contemplative and neo-poetic (as opposed to whiny). Here, Lisa Gerrard’s unearthly voice is the big star. It’s a beautiful instrument, with enough worldly edge that she never gets Enya-smooth (and, consequently, Enya-boring). You can’t rock out to The Serpent’s Egg, but if you put on “Chant Of The Paladin” for twenty minutes, it’s like going into a trance without the horrible flashing lights and god-awful techno.
Rating: B+