Cold Therapy - Figures and Faces

If you were one of the eager people watching our Halloween contest and awaiting the results, then you were either happy or jealous that Poland's dark electro act Cold Therapy won due to his eerily atmospheric song 'Scarecrow'. The track was slow, melodic, but harsh all the same. While most Dark electro acts try to fine tune themselves for the Gothic/Cyber dancefloor, Cold Therapy focuses on making stories out of his music with completely erotic sounds. The best way I can describe Cold Therapy's music is as if a crypt keeper began to summon the dead to form a merry band together to curse and haunt the locals. 

Anyway, the reason I bring Cold Therapy to your attention is to speak of their latest album Figures and Faces. This is the album that features the song 'Scarecrow' as well as a whole lot of other goodies. Ten original tracks, remixes from Acervus and Homicidal Feelings as well as an appearance from Fredrik Croona makes the album to die for. 

Figures and Faces is an interesting beast as I have a feeling it's split into two parts; there's very dark, melodic, slow paced tracks that serve as conceptual boats. On the other hand, there are the tracks that get into mid-tempo range and make you wanna move at least a little. 'The Pretender', 'Figures and Faces', 'Scarecrow', and 'Night Dwellers', make up a big chunk of the moody, dark tracks on the album. Bells, slamming percussion, metallic industrial twangs, as well as horror vibes dominate these songs and bring out sinister sounds. 

The next half of the album, however, brings out faster beats with more electronic bits added in. The same type of graveyard atmosphere and mood is set in these songs, but the change of pace made a huge difference. 'A Story Untold', featuring Fredrik Croona, was like a House of Mirrors - strange, addicting, but completely fascinating. The vocals also changed from the usual growling to deeper, distorted whispering chords. 

As far as the remixes go, Acervus turned the title track into a lo-fi dark electro track. The deep bass was gone and was replaced by an underlying bassline that was one step away from being noise. Homicidal Feelings' added in a lot of technical elements to 'Portrait of Grotesque', though not everything seemed to fit in place with this track. impurfekt's remix of 'Scarecrow' turned to the song into a more light hearted, ambient track with great samples and wonderful piano work. 

Figures and Faces is a monster of an album. It's different; the slow, melodic approach along with spooky renditions and horror-esque interpretations made this album amazing. The next thing I can tell you to do is go listen to it - it's highly recommended! 
Dec 08 2016