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Clan of Xymox - Spider on the Wall (Trisol) Reviewed by Sam Thomas About a thousand years ago, when gigs were s�ll live and social distancing wasn’t even a thing, I saw Clan of Xymox live at what was then the Carling Academy in Islington. They’re one of those bands who, once heard, are never completely forgo�en. So fast forward to 2020, and whilst the rest of the world has changed beyond measure, Clan of Xymox are s�ll producing ear wormingly catchy synth pop / dark Gothic mix. Which is not to say that they haven’t evolved and changed: of course they have. Changes in personnel, moving to another country and just life in general have seen to that. What we have now is a perfectly polished slice of extreme darkness, precise like a knife cut and ready to slash and slice. Ronny Moorings is the ever-present figurehead of the band, and he has steered them into some very dark and turbulent waters. The opening track, “She” is beau�ful, reminding me of Visage with its opening bars. But this isn’t a retrospec�ve: the bang up to date “Black Mirror” is a scathing trea�se on the life of social media junkies and their “disease”. Maybe I just love it because I don’t have thousands of followers on Facebook (or whatever the latest thing is…) It’s very refreshing to hear a new release from a band who’ve been around for a while, haven’t compromised their ar�s�c vision and are s�ll crea�ng relevant music. Even be�er than it should be dark, Gothic (in the best sense as opposed to just Goth) and highly intelligent. In these current uncertain �mes, the world could certainly do with more music of this quality. h�ps://www.facebook.com/clanofxymox.official/

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