The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Week
  • Books + Movies
  • About
16
new
SPILL NEW MUSIC: GWAR HAVE GONE BERSERK! CHECK OUT THE NEW SONG “BERSERKER MODE” OUT NOW
SPILL NEW MUSIC: QUEEN KWONG RELEASES HER TAKE ON A ‘POP’ SONG “WITHOUT YOU, WHATEVER”
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: ART D’ECCO – “MIDLIFE CRISIS”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: YUNGBLUD ANNOUNCES SELF-TITLED THIRD STUDIO ALBUM SET FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 2 VIA LOCOMOTION/GEFFEN RECORDS
SPILL NEWS: CANADIAN PUNK LEGENDS DAYGLO ABORTIONS HIT THE ROAD WITH CITIZEN RAGE FOR A CROSS CANADA TOUR
SPILL FEATURE: DON’T YOU FEEL CLOSER? – A CONVERSATION WITH CY CURNIN OF THE FIXX
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: BROKE ROYALS – “REVIVALISM”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: COMBICHRIST SHARES NEW SINGLE & LYRIC VIDEO FOR “MODERN DEMON” VIA OUT OF LINE MUSIC
SPILL NEWS: KATIE TUPPER RETURNS WITH NEW SINGLE “HONEY” + EMBARKS ON CANADIAN TOUR
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: VARIOUS ARTISTS – PAY IT ALL BACK VOL. 8
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FLORENCE + THE MACHINE – DANCE FEVER
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MASTER BOOT RECORD – PERSONAL COMPUTER
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FADER – QUARTZ
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DIATOM DELI – TIME~LAPSE NATURE
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: PANJOMA – “BLEEDING SUN”
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: BEAUTY IN CHAOS – “AFTERLIFE” FT. TISH CIRAVOLO
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Week
  • Books + Movies
  • About
  • Spill Menu
    • Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Festivals
    • Portraits
    • Headlines
      • News
      • Contests
      • Events
      • Entertainment Headlines
      • Concert Listings
      • Toronto Concert Venues
    • New Music
      • Premieres
      • Track Of The Day
    • Track Of The Week
    • Books + Movies
    • About
Album Reviews
716
previous article
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SKIPPING STONE - MONSTERS OF MEN
next article
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ERIC CHENAUX - SAY LAURA

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE – FASCINATION

The Birthday Massacre

THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE
FASCINATION
METROPOLIS RECORDS

Toronto natives The Birthday Massacre are back with their 12th studio album Fascination, an offering that is full of the dreamy synth pop and aggressive guitar blend that their fans have loved for the past 20 years. This new release promises to be a much more intimate look into the band’s inner workings.

Fascination as a whole is a fine album but what it doesn’t do is re-imagine the wheel. This new collection of songs will bring fans what they’ve come to expect from The Birthday Massacre, music that is fantastical and filled with whimsy topped off with lead singer Chibi’s signature youthful voice.

There is ebb and flow within the album with down tempo tracks followed by more upbeat and happier ones with keyboardist Owen’s great synthesized tones weaving throughout paired with solid guitar work from lead guitarist Falcore and rhythm guitarist Rainbow.

The title track “Fascination” kicks the album off much like their previous releases; it sounds exactly like what is expected from a Birthday Massacre album. Not to say that it’s a bad song, it isn’t. It’s a very pretty song with a great beat but it’s also predictable.

The biggest standout would have to be “Cold Lights” for a song that is on the darker end of the Birthday Massacre spectrum. It’s grittier and emotive right from the start and features a great bass line that is just infectious – it has similar elements that made their track “Superstition” from their prior album of the same name such a hit.

Another highlight would be “Like Fear, Like Love” again for that deeper, darker, heavier tone throughout. It’s danceable, sure to be bound for the DJ catalogue.

Fascination fits snugly amidst the rest of the Birthday Massacre discography. The music here sounds like what they have released in the past and as a fan, there isn’t anything not to like. It would be nice to see them dive into their heavier rock centric side akin to what they did with a classic from their early years “Blue” that also featured Chibi changing up her vocals for a more guttural demon voice to contrast her usual bell-like clean vocals.



Artist Links

website_flat_2016 facebook_flat_2016 twitter_flat_2016 instagram_flat_2016

Item Reviewed

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE – FASCINATION

Author

Samantha Wu

Here's what we think...
Spill Rating
Fan Rating
Rate Here
New Criteria
10
10
6.0
Total Spill Rating
10
Total Fan Rating
3 ratings
You have rated this
Album Reviews
album reviewalbum reviewsdreams of youfascinationmetropolis recordsthe birthday massacre
album review, album reviews, dreams of you, fascination, metropolis records, the birthday massacre
About the Author
Samantha Wu
Samantha is both a writer and a fan of the arts and has been able to find numerous ways to pair the two. Eager to dive head first into writing for Spill, Samantha is an avid partaker and reviewer of live art in Toronto serving as an editor at Mooney on Theatre exploring live local theatre, she's a photojournalist for Go Globehopper, a travel, dining and tourism blog that focuses on Toronto and abroad and previously for Lithium Magazine. She's passionate about music, theatre, photography, and writing -- not necessarily in that order. She drinks tea more than coffee, prefers ciders over beers, and sings karaoke way too loudly. You can follow her on various social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
RELATED ARTICLES
album reviewalbum reviewsdreams of you
 
9.0
On-U Sound
—

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: VARIOUS ARTISTS – PAY IT ALL BACK VOL. 8

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on May 13, 2022
Various Artists Pay It All Back Vol. 8 On-U Sound Master producer/songwriter/artist Adrian Sherwood has been behind all things On-U Sound since 1979, and since then he and [...]
 
10
Florence + The Machine
4.9

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FLORENCE + THE MACHINE – DANCE FEVER

by Robert Defina on May 13, 2022
Florence + the Machine  Dance Fever Polydor Records Florence + The Machine has always found the midway point between her classically-trained vocals and accessible dance pop. Her [...]
 
9.0
Master Boot Record
—

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MASTER BOOT RECORD – PERSONAL COMPUTER

by Samantha Stevens on May 13, 2022
Master Boot Record Personal Computer Metal Blade Records Once in a generation a musical genre takes a leap and for metal…that leap is Master Boot Record. The brainchild of [...]
 
9.0
Fader

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FADER – QUARTZ

by Aaron Badgley on May 13, 2022
Fader Quartz Blanc Check Records Fader is a duo, consisting of Neil Arthur (Blancmange/Near Future) and Benge (Wrangler, Creep Show and John Foxx And The Maths). Quartz is their third album, [...]
 
9.0
Diatom Deli

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DIATOM DELI – TIME~LAPSE NATURE

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on May 13, 2022
Diatom Deli Time~Lapse Nature RVNG International Artist PR’s can really go to extremes, from bare facts to wordy gibberish that praises the artists to heaven with no substantial [...]

Latest Album Reviews
View All
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: VARIOUS ARTISTS – PAY IT ALL BACK VOL. 8
9.0
—
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FLORENCE + THE MACHINE – DANCE FEVER
10
4.9
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MASTER BOOT RECORD – PERSONAL COMPUTER
9.0
—
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FADER – QUARTZ
9.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DIATOM DELI – TIME~LAPSE NATURE
9.0

Tweets by @spillmagazine

SPILL MAGAZINE MENU
  • Home | The Spill Magazine
  • Premieres
  • Track Of The Week
  • Album Reviews
  • Books + Movies
  • Features
  • Live Reviews
  • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • News
  • Events
  • Entertainment Headlines
  • Concert Listings
  • Toronto Concert Venues
  • About Us
  • Contests
  • New Music
  • Spill Magazine Contributors
  • TOTD
  • Privacy Policy
  • The Scene Unseen
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2022 | The Spill Magazine
All Rights Reserved.

TRENDING RIGHT NOW
   
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE – FASCINATION
716
 
SPILL FEATURE: CRUISE TO THE EDGE 2022 – THIS YEAR’S PROG CRUISE MAKES A LOT OF NOISE. A WHOLE LOT OF NOISE.
565
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PRIMUS – CONSPIRANOID
421
 
SPILL FEATURE: DANCE TO THE PERFECT MESS – A CONVERSATION WITH CARL MARSH OF SHRIEKBACK
406
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MEN WITHOUT HATS – AGAIN (PART 2)
322
 
SPILL NEWS: BARENAKED LADIES TO RELEASE LIVE TRACKS FROM SOLD-OUT ROYAL ALBERT HALL SHOW | DELUXE EDITION OF ‘DETOUR DE FORCE’ OUT JUNE 3
320
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – UNLIMITED LOVE
312
 
SPILL LIVE REVIEW: JERRY CANTRELL w/ LOLA COLETTE @ HISTORY, TORONTO
282
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: TANGERINE DREAM – RAUM
268
 
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: LOST CAT – “L.O.S.T.”
265
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: VR SEX – ROUGH DIMENSION
255
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAN AMERICAN – THE PATIENCE FADER
253
 
SPILL NEW MUSIC: VENUS BEMUS RELEASES DEBUT SINGLE “STORMS”
251
ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES