Two years ago, Draven surprised us with Abyssal Arcana, a debut album as enjoyable as it was refreshing, packed with references, desires and surprises. The Greek artist is back with Massacre Blood Club, and the stage is already set: his approach to electronica is still all about bloody delirium and energy. We can't complain!
Draven's real talent for atmosphere and cinematographic approach has given his music a melodic and narrative richness, but this second album takes us by surprise with a particularly percussive start. But with Sebastian Komor guesting on Seductive Meat Grinder, we knew we were in for a sweat. Draven initially seems to have lost in spirit what he has gained in muscle. By going for the essential with a more aggressive approach, he's going for the effective, the catchy, the big sound that cuts and stains. You have to wait for Stained on the Mainframe to find this blend of intense orchestral melodies and hard-hitting electronics. It's also the first 'real' track on the album without a guest... coincidence?
With Massacre Blood Club, the collaborations multiply. In addition to the illustrious ex-Icon of Coil mentioned above, the duo We Are Magonia bring their theatrical mystical grandiloquence and sense of synthetic carnage to Through the Cerebral Cortex and Blasphemy, as do the more nostalgic darksynth touches of CONNÖR on In the Taste of Blood or the trance frenzy of Teknovore on X-Stacy... But it's Not Your Kind that comes as the biggest surprise with The Static Architect and its vocals, which give Draven's music an organic flavour, adding an extra touch of humanity and the raging emotions embodied in the voice.
All this allows Massacre Blood Club to vary the pleasures and enrich Draven's palette... but also, perhaps, sometimes to dilute his singularity. When he finally finds himself alone, in the dark, his sense of chilling melody and subtle suggestion in the midst of murderous beats is restored with pleasure (though we did double-check that D3ATH, with its blasphemous choirs and dubstep bursts, had been made without We Are Magonia).
Draven's having fun is undeniable. Once again, the pleasure he takes in creating is obvious. He seizes on different trends (EBM, dubstep, psytrance, techno, darksynth) and mixes them with his love of horror and the sinister, just as he seizes the souls of his guests and mixes them with his own nightmares. In this respect, Massacre Blood Club is a bit like the laboratory of some mad scientist whose unholy creations explode in our faces, hungry for blood. Perhaps the singularity of the artist who often hides behind his comrades is a little less apparent, but the result is as generous, playful and cool as ever.
