ALBUM REVIEW: Pray To The Knife – Black Bouquet

North Carolina band BLACK BOUQUET are ready to make their debut with their studio album Pray To The Knife. The six-piece have described their influences to be between THE CURE, NEW ORDER and JOY DIVISION, honing in especially on that signature 80s rock, synth and goth sound, with some comparison to more modern bands like MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE. They’ve described this album as depicting a story of troubled lovers with a focus on conversational lyrics and pummelling instrumentals.

Even if you don’t fully get the story, you do feel like you’re on a journey, following a narrative that you might not fully understand, yet you’re here to listen regardless. Opening with My Love, the album begins with a slow, twinkly guitar with synths coming in that creates a dark fantasy setting. The ethereal sound is further cemented when the goth rock instruments come in, combined with a dramatic orchestral section. Throughout the album, you can immediately hear that MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE influence when it comes to the vocals; if you didn’t know better, you’d think it was Gerard Way singing.

To describe Pray To The Knife in one word would be ‘dark’. That’s not to say that you’ll be sat on the edge of your seat this whole time, but you’ll find yourself transported into another world, like you’re floating through a world set in films like Labyrinth or The Neverending Story. If not that, then you can picture certain scenes play out. For example, Prom has you picturing a scene from the dance, but in an alternative style as if thrown by the kids who wouldn’t fit in at their school. You can imagine a scene where the band performs and two people slow dance in the centre of the floor before the evening concludes as the couple finally kiss.

Outside of this, the only other way to describe this album is as a take on 80s goth-rock and synths meets modern day emo. It’s moody, melancholic and feels ethereal, as BLACK BOUQUET bring those beloved sounds and styles of goth into the modern day, whilst doing so in a way that feels timeless.

Older and younger generations of rock fans will enjoy this and its style. Pray To The Knife is only their debut and yet it is already easy to be transfixed by BLACK BOUQUET. We are eager to hear more.

Rating: 7/10

Pray To The Knife is out now via self-release.

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