Mina Harker (If you don’t get the literary reference, then either you have been reading far too much Twilight or you’re reading the wrong magazine) has a lot going on for her. On one hand, hard rock guitar distorted for effect to give her music a good bite and chew. On the other hand, nippy, zippy pop instincts that can catch on like dry kindling in a fireplace. All alloyed with cold, fluorescent synths for that indifferent sheen.

Mina gets it right where a lot of goth metal bands go wrong: She knows where she is and what she’s at. While goth metal acts can seem confused about what they are doing and try and mix hard metal written mostly by manly men with a sensitive leaning and get stuck sounding like they are less then what they claim to be, Mina is secure in herself and doesn’t get bogged down in trying to fulfil obligations from genre labels she may or may not have set for herself. And what she does do, she does it with feeling and passion.

“Rache” prowls and pommels away with expert precision and aim, going straight to the heart via the head. “Lolita” is one honed for the dancefloor and radio play, being a superb track to dance to. “Schmutzige Hande” demonstrates Mina’s power as a songwriter, targeting the jugular and ripping things up a medium but steady pace. “Wenn Ich Von Dir Traum” throws itself forward in a way that you don’t know if it will hug you are smack you silly. I’m leaning towards the former, but I have my doubts. “Nackt” stands apart form its extroverted sisters is that it is a much quieter affair that prefers to reflect and strike a languid pose in the stage light. “Nichts Zu Verlieren” finishes it all off with a sombre smile but doesn’t try to punch under its weight as it brings everything to a close. Don’t forget the bonus song of the last track either. For those of you who want something avant garde, this is what you want.

The fact that Mina Harker is playing by the rules of a sell-out but keeping her integrity intact (for example, singing in German rather then English) means we can expect her to do great things without earning the disdain of the more discriminating music fan. Definitely worth getting a copy.