Pride And Fall - Of Lust And Desire

Pride And Fall has always been a lots of miss, sometimes hit band. They have never released a truly good album, but sometimes they have stellar club hits. And after a hiatus of six years Pride And Fall return, and they also return to their usual modus operandi. That of a mediocre futurepop band with a few outstanding songs. I would say that a period of working 6 years on an album would have improved some, but i think this return has more to do with the "Futurepop revival" the German dark scene advertisement magazines are promoting everywhere. Especially seeing that another mediocre futurepop band like Neuroticfish seems to be leading that.

I also always had the impression Pride And Fall was put up by Dependent as a potential new VNV Nation seeing both bands share a love for anthem like songs. But where VNV Nation can always live up to it by giving excellent live shows, and write good songs in general, Pride And Fall has always fallen short in both these divisions. The live shows i have seen of them are pretty boring, and one or two good songs are not going to save you.

And so we have a new album by the lads, and its a bumpy ride once again. After a boring opener "Sculptor of Lust and Desire" the second song "Hollow" is quite nice. But the following songs up to "The Knife" are also in the sympathetic, well produced, but quite boring branch. "The Knife" is a nice little song, but after that the usual mediocrity sets in again and we have to wait until "Fear your love" to get a truly stand out track. That's the weird thing about Pride and Fall. They can do it! They manage to get it right sometimes, and on "Fear your love" they get it right. If they manage to reach that level on about 50% of their albums they might be on their way to become the next VNV Nation.

And then they close the album on a low note with the worst track on the album "Epliogue". Yes, Pride and Fall is back!

I fear this whole futurepop revival is falling flat on its face. And why should you have a revival when one of the leading bands is still going strong (VNV Nation),and one has made a pretty good comeback (Covenant)? To take over the torch from Apoptygma Berzerk? In defense of Pride And Fall: that also have been a band with a few hits and lots of miss. So maybe that's what they are after. Being the next Apoptygma Berzerk! Good luck guys, and i'll be putting "Fear your love" on my DJ laptop/iPad, because that one will go well with the club crowd. Aug 24 2013