The Birthday Massacre are one of the best known Canadian Goth/Industrial outfits going and it seems that in between their corrupted, twisted childhood image and current line up of one female singer and the rest of the band being male and dressed the same and their sound that mixes 80’s style Synthpop with Metal, you could easily be forgiven for dismissing the band as a band for the Hot Topic clientele and teenagers trying not to come to terms with their adult responsibilities, instead clinging to their childhood years, covering it with that particular hue of chemical black (The kind that looks blue under artificial light). Lord knows I did. But this showed me I may have been missing out on something.

“Forever” is pretty cold out and out, and doesn’t quite have the oomph of a proper dancefloor favourite, instead making radio frequencies its domain. “Burn Away” is an excellent romp of not-quite-Metal that I know people in the German Grufti scene will enjoy. “Left Behind” is a slow Metal walk into the sunset as another day ends.

And then there’s the remixes. The remix of “Pale” by Kevvy Mental and David Ogilive is very cool and very well put together, letting the guitar flourish while the beat rumbles on. Tweaker’s mix of “Control” is a vibrant mover with a rough edge that adds an incredible flavour. Combichrist does “Shallow Grave” tone their thing down and recalibrate for the track, but it’s still a Combichrist track so I’m sure Industrial DJs will find it useful when it comes to keeping people dancing. SKOLD takes “Pins and Needles” and puts it through the Industrial Metal re-processing machine. “Shallow Grave” is reworked by Assemblage 23 for a good electro tune and a good time.

A worthwhile listen overall. While their image may not win them brownie points in certain circles, there is a lot going on here in this EP. Especially for any Industrial fans.