CoC : My Insanity - Still Dreams in Violent Areas : Review

My Insanity - _Still Dreams in Violent Areas_
(Parallel Union, 1998)
by: David Rocher (7 out of 10)

I'd never even heard of Parallel Union Records (who are mysteriously based in Sion, Switzerland), let alone of My Insanity, before I checked _Still Dreams in Violent Areas_ out -- an album which requires much more personal investment than a simple few cursory listens before it discloses the fine essence of its dark gothic metal. Some similarities with the once majestic Samael do come to mind, but the general tone of _SDiVA_ is very gothic, often constructed on mid-tempo structures, enriched by melodic guitar lines and vocalist Faust's smooth, low-case chants. Omnipresent keyboard parts sear this work with a fragile melancholy that is very often touching, and contrasts with the calm yet heavy guitar riffing and often muscular rhythm section. If a track like "Silence" is truly quite reminiscent of Sion's unholy trinity at the times of _Passage_, works like the awesome track "Tower" or the fine "A Girl in a White Dress" clearly demonstrate that My Insanity have the personality and potential to raise their musical craft high above the countless, tedious, bland acts that are now so hastily labelled "gothic". _SDiVA_ may indeed need three tracks to really pick up speed, but the pace it then attains, considering this is apparently the band's first effort, is far beyond what a blase metal listener like myself would expect to hear. If you are in quest for the soothing remedy to death metal's unrelenting, bludgeoning assaults, My Insanity can apply the balm you need.

(article published 14/3/1999)