Review Summary: Tragic.
Tragedy and music. The two seem to go together hand-in-hand, and there has always been a morbid fascination with the way death, pain, anxiety and depression fuel creativity and often produce some of the finest works of art to ever exist. One needs to look no further than last year’s David Bowie album
Blackstar, which grew in stature considerably after his death, as an example of that. That is not to say that the album isn’t deserving of such praise; a backstory can affect music every bit as much as lyrics, artwork or production. It’s a decidedly more complicated feature of the overall product, though, one that relies on a number of other factors to really make it significant.
Alien Angel Super Death, the second album by Swiss synth-rock artist Verena von Horsten, is one such album that is befallen with personal tragedy. It deals with the complex processes she had to go through after her brother committed suicide 4 years ago but her dark past goes even further back than that. Sexually abused and abandoned as a child, von Horsten also survived her own suicide attempts. It feels uncomfortable even mentioning such deeply personal and distressing events, but the lyrics and music have clearly been shaped by these experiences. Inspiringly, they aim to pour life and hope into the wealth of darkness on offer, inspiring those who might have faced similar tragedies in their own lives.
At the heart of the album is the near-8 minute “Sakrament der Büffelherde”, which is built around a shadowy but danceable bass line that cuts through almost the entirety of the track. However, at around the 4 minute mark the song changes course, with everything fading out and leaving only the vocals to imitate the instrumentation. This slowly becomes trancelike as the instruments steadily crawl their way back before culminating in another rendition of the chorus. It all feels rather important, like a meditation session that ends in a spiritual breakthrough.
While “The Hymn” makes for a strong opener song-wise, it doesn’t do much to indicate the true atmosphere that lies at the heart of the record. This comes to the fore in “All About”, which is Portishead-worship to the max. Fortunately, it manages to replicate that group’s unique ambiance with aplomb and von Horsten also adds her own unique spin on the sound.
The other big standout moment is the 4-minute piano instrumental “A Healing Moment”. While perhaps it wouldn’t really be a highlight on an album chock-full of beautiful keys and strings, in the context of Alien Angel Super Death it stands out like a sore thumb. The title tells you all you need to know; it’s the moment where things finally seem to all come crashing down, when there is nothing left to do but lie down and let the music wash over you… but this is when the scars begin to heal. It’s a clever inclusion that helps add to the very unified feeling the album manages to project. There are some great songs on offer here but what really drives home the positive aspects of the record is the way they all come together to make the album feel like a journey with a very specific destination in mind. It’s cohesive and that’s a big plus in any artist’s book.
Experimentation can be found all across the album, though; “The Monster” is an ambient piece that succeeds despite never really going anywhere, whereas “What You Say” is mostly just an annoyance. “The Believer” brings together a number of these elements to create a satisfying, if not ever-so-slightly underwhelming finish to proceedings. But as previously mentioned, it is mostly the combination of all the songs working together in unison that makes
Alien Angel Super Death a success.
For all the darkness of von Horsten’s background, it seems as though
Alien Angel Super Death is an album of hope and healing. Whereas other records might use such a painful background to paint the record into a corner, Verena von Horsten instead finds a way to convey a broad range of emotions that one might go through after such a tragedy. It isn’t a flawless album but for a relatively little-known musician it manages to pack quite the punch. It will be interesting to see where she goes from here.
