Although we’ve written a few posts about her music in the past, Body Horror is aux animaux‘s first full-length. She started releasing material with The Unraveling single in 2018 and some highlights of her career are the EPs Stockholm Synthrome (2020), the experimental The Hydesville Episode (2022) and last year’s Hauntology. Following the vibe of this last EP, that is to say, a disturbing synthwave with nods to horror movies and an important presence of the theremin, the Turkish artist based in Sweden delivers us a really good album. Body Horror has been released by the French label Manic Depression and is available on CD, digital and 12″ vinyl. The mastering has been done by Doruk Öztürkcan of She Past Away.
“Redrum”, the terrifying intro, whose title it’s a reference to the Shining, invites us in just a minute, to turn off the lights and get ready for a scare or two. In “Sleep Paralysis”, apart from the sharp keyboards we have the theremin, an instrument that is key to the music of aux animaux and whose sounds even today seem from another world. On this track, Ghosty sings magnetically about the terrifying feeling of not being able to move. “Venus Lucifer”, as the name suggests, is sensual and dark. “Night”, one of the singles we already knew, starts with a sampler of Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, something that really fits its vampiric lyrics. Ghosty once again stands out with his beautiful voice in this composition. “Blackout” is a powerful and catchy track with an unsetting vibe thanks to theremin sound that seems to announce danger. “Devastation Song” with Ghostly whispering more than singing is one of the best composition of the album and include a nice keyboard solo. The theremin takes center stage again in “Lost Souls” where Ghosty presents his most pop and solemn register. “Violence in the Silence” is disturbing both in the lyrics and the music. The album comes to an end with a more experimental piece where we hear the reading of a text about childs attachment while the music is noisy and frightening.
