Welcome to the dark side.
"It's a day-dream recorded in music... the drags of Reuptake inhibition... the loneliness of that lost wandering feeling you've known"... welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Nim Vind and 'The Fashion of Fear'.
Formerly the lead singer of popular Canadian band, Mr. Underhill, 'The Fashion of Fear' is Nim Vind's first solo outing and marks the death of his previous collaboration. Various categories have been banded around in an effort to describe Nim Vind's dark sound, from Death Rock and Gothabiliy, to Glam Rock and Horrorpunk. And listening to this album there certainly is an interesting concoction of sounds and influences...
Opening with the title track, 'The Fashion of Fear', darkly sinister guitar and pounding drums make up the intro until Vind's spine-chilling voice cuts in for the first time. Sounding like a cocktail of David Bowie mixed with the dark sophistication of HIM's Ville Valo, the vocals seductively grasp a hold of your soul while the driving guitar and eerie keyboard continue over an unsettlingly haunting melody. 'Saturday Night Creepers' and 'Killer Creature Double Feature' have a more Poppy, Glam-Rock vibe, with their intensely catchy melodies and sing-a-long choruses, but still manage to retain Vind's trademark creepiness and feeling of impending doom. 'Outsiders', 'Blue Movies' and 'In The Night' build upon the Horrorpunk aspect of the album as the punky, offbeat drumming and glam, trashy guitar combine with typically macabre horror movie imagery.
'The Midnight Croon' is one of the album's finest tracks; beginning with an eerie organ intro and intense drumming. Lyrics as ostentatious as "heart shaped bloodstains drown his dreams in the moonlight" can't help but remind you of HIM's moody Love Metal, especially when coupled with the dark sophistication of Vind's voice. Similarly, the use of the organ, edgy guitar and spooky bass line are reminiscent of 'Welcome to my Nightmare' era Alice Cooper. Another standout song has to be the faster, fear driven 'Into the Sphere We Go'; the massive chorus and heavier guitar makes this one of the more Heavy Rocking tracks on the album as the ghostly noises and twinkling keyboards in the background continue to build upon the sense of something sinister approaching.
The last few tracks on the album take a slower turn, with acoustic guitar, echoing vocals and eerie whistled melodies. 'Astronomicon' shows off the quieter, more sexy side of Vind's voice as the haunting backing sounds build to an intoxicating chorus, before 'Interviews With the Icon' finishes the album as peculiarly as it began, with Bowie-esque vocals and thoroughly weird lyrics.
Listening to Nim Vind is strangely enticing and exhilarating whilst somewhat unsettling, like a walk through a graveyard at midnight, under a full moon, on Friday 13th. With its creepy atmosphere, Vind's spine-chillingly sophisticated voice, the edgy, slightly sinister guitar sound and pounding punk drumming Vind mixes the spooky, horror movie imagery of artists like Wednesday 13 and Alice Cooper with the gothic, sophisticated sound of HIM, the weirdness and glamour of David Bowie and adds a shot of trashy Punk Rock for good measure. Welcome to the dark side.