English darkwave and Scandinavian coldwave meet in A Haunted Place, the album recorded between Kill Shelter and Antipole. In Kill Shelter we can find multi-instrumentalist Pete Burns while Antipole is Karl Morten Dahl’s project. Both acts have published their first album on the Franco-Spanish label Unknown Pleasures and also collaborated on a few records, before meeting at the Manic Depression Festival, an event organized by the label that publishes the music of the Scottish artist and also this album that we are talking about. Both projects used to collaborate with guess singers, but in this case, it’s Pete Burns who’s in charge of the microphone.
I had the opportunity of buying also the previous Antipole’s album, Radial Glare, a great work where the guitars of Karl Morten Dahl unify a set of songs sang by Paris Alexander, Eirene and Marc Lewis. So, I tackled this A Haunted Place with a lot of expectations. Karl’s guitar work is here reinforced by Pete Burns’s and really stands out along this melancholy album. A Haunted Place is a mature work that doesn’t need easy chorus and where Pete Burns’s deep voice is a great surprise.
The album starts with the powerful, dark and danceable “Raise The Skies,” first single of the album with a very nice work of the guitars and a riff that you won’t forget easily. “Burn Bright” has a disturbing beginning and breathtaking guitars. It’s also one of the songs where we can find Lynsey Burns doing chorus. “A Kiss in the Rain” is a slower track, full of melancholia and with a name that really fits the content. “Into the Fire” continues the vibe of the previous track, but it’s catchier and presents some atmospheres reminiscent of The Cure. “All for Nothing” is the track more “Goth Rock” and, without any doubt, one of the great songs of the album. “The Edge of Reason” succeeds in transmitting a feeling of loneliness and has a bass line that really stands up. The chorus and the interpretation are worth mentioning too. With “Of Roses and Thorns,” we have a great powerful darkwave tune. At the end of the album, we can find “Every Waking Hour,” an evocative and ghosty song, another of the best moments of A Haunted Place. The CD includes one bonus track: a short song with fragile guitars that stars after half a minute of silence.
