Snog – Eight Offerings For The Undead (Album – Metropolis Records)
Genre/Influences: Experimental, Electronic.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: I realized the first official album (cf. “Lies Inc”) by the Australian Snog was released thirty years ago. David Thrussell is not exactly in a celebration mood but just released a new work featuring eight songs.
Content: Snog has achieved a work to listen to. This is a dreamy Electronic composition built up with refined sound treatments. Sometimes a bit sensual-like (cf. “The Masque Of Evil”) and sometimes moving towards a darker edge (cf. “Domesticated”) Snog has possibly released one of its more inhibited works today.
+ + + : It took me a few songs to get to a first highlight but “Domesticated” is a great song. It sounds dark and haunting while driven by a slow cadence. The album is also characterized by subtle, refined, sound arrangements while the pure vintage strings are definitely reminding me of the golden 80s.
– – – : I don’t have anything against dreamy songs but they unfortunately reveal any single climax.
Conclusion: Snog is never totally repeating itself -which is great, but the magic is gone.
Best songs: “Domesticated”, “The Masque Of Evil”, “Jaded”.
Rate: 6½.
Artist: http://www.worldwentdown.com / www.facebook.com/snogofficial
Label: www.metropolis-records.com / www.facebook.com/MetropolisRecords
“Eight Offerings For The Undead” was released in 2022 through Metropolis Records on digital, CD and vinyl. The video for “Jaded” came out ahead of the album in February 2022.
Listen to “Eight Offerings For The Undead”:
About Snog
Snog was co-founded in 1989 by Australian musician David Thrussell with art school friends Tim McGrath and Julia Bourke. The group has issued twenty albums and a long run of EPs and singles, fusing synth-pop, electro-industrial, techno, ambient and experimental styles while also nodding to funk, country and other genres.
The first album, “Lies Inc.”, appeared in Germany on the Machinery label in 1992 and reached the U.S. and Australia in 1993, carrying “Corporate Slave”, “Shop” and “Born To Be Mild”. Pieter Bourke, later of Dead Can Dance and Lisa Gerrard’s solo group, joined shortly after that record. By “Buy Me… I’ll Change Your Life” in 1997 Snog was mainly a solo vehicle for Thrussell, working with guest musicians.
Thrussell also records as Black Lung. “Eight Offerings For The Undead”, reviewed here, arrived in 2022 on Metropolis Records; the label went on to reissue “Dear Valued Customer” (1994), “Buy Me… I’ll Change Your Life” (1997) and “Third Mall From The Sun” (1999) as remastered editions in December 2024.
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