Review by Matt Miller
Anticipation among an ever-increasing and enthusiastic fan base abounds over Violet as The Birthday Massacre tinge their 2004 independent EP of the same name with a few familiar colors. Incorporating four remastered tracks from the 2002’s Nothing and Nowhere, the spectrum of Violet expands without fading.
Developing a creepy mood with a simple prologue entitled…well…”Prologue,” Violet’s first lyrical excursions effectively outline some themes of the album and the band itself. “Lovers End” spooks listeners with a relatively concrete and violent image of a relationship gone awry, delivered through alternating instrumentation. Ominous synth and drum melodies overlaid with almost whispered vocals alternate with a sung chorus that boasts some of the heavier guitar work on the album.
The next track, “Happy Birthday,” is the first of the older tracks to appear on this extended edition of Violet, giving it a critical role in maintaining the flow of the album. Although “Happy Birthday” gained a heavier texture with the remastering process to fit into the generally guitar-driven texture of Violet, the track maintains its original industrial rhythm from Nothing and Nowhere. Structurally, “Happy Birthday” is similar to the previous track, this time casually delivering another spooky, yet more abstract set of lyrics in the same alternating whisper/sing vocal style on top of respective electronic and guitar dominant melodies. The song as a whole casts a lighthearted—almost childish hue on the outwardly frightening lyrics in light of “Lovers End.”
In a burst of urgency, “Horror Show” drives ahead, focused on rhythm and electronics with a relatively straightforward vocal delivery. Another song seeming to describe a troubled relationship, this track, which also originally appeared on Nothing and Nowhere, pulls together a vague idea of fame, or some semblance thereof, as a sort of "troubled relationship" itself.
The title track enfolds some outwardly depressing lyrics with soft and swooping synth and electronic-dominant melodies and pleasant vocal delivery. Reinforcing the "troubled relationship" idea with the choral lyrics, and so the broken record plays as you throw us away, “Violet” is possibly the prettiest song on the album with the ugliest subject…criticism, whether from an idle music industry or increasingly demanding fans.
“Play Dead,” my favorite song on Violet, like its central location on the album, is also a musical and thematic focal point. Innocence, fantasy, and criticism converge alongside equal intensities of electronic, synth and guitar melodies in a song that is simply charming, before being detonated by the onset of “Blue.” A characteristically bipolar musical experience boasting the lightest melodies and innocent singing as well as the heaviest guitar work and chilling vocal delivery, “Blue” is the antithesis of the previous track, yet it’s equally enjoyable.
“Video Kid,” which can be considered the single from Nothing and Nowhere, enjoys a light, powerpop rhythm that follows its counterpart from 2004’s Violet EP despite severe dissimilarities in mood and delivery. “Video Kid” overpowers the drastic shift however by sharing listener affection.
Somewhat of a stylistic oddity, “The Dream” is the only song of its kind on Violet as it was on Nothing and Nowhere. Maintaining a considerable level of fantasy as well as the omnipresent hint of a meta-musical motive, “The Dream” fits in well, and is quite simply pleasant enough to work on the album. It’s one of those gems buried deep inside the album as a reward to listeners who are kind enough to keep listening. The track also leads into “Black,” a dreamlike instrumental section provided by Aslan.
With a poignant twist in mood toward the horrorific, “Black” hurls the listeners back from their reverie into the melancholy reality of “Holiday.” Another simply enjoyable, if gloomy song, “Holiday” brushes against the meta-musical idea specifically with the line On and on the music plays…, while the rest of the song pines over something that has gone away. Again, it seems to be painting that loss as something musical as much as something between a person and his/her environment.
In a final stroke of contrast, “Nevermind” closes the album on a light, but powerful note. Beginning with a single, catchy electronic melody, the song quickly launches into a speedy, guitar-driven track with a slightly different form from previous tracks. While the song has a musical chorus, the lyrics in the chorus completely change. Overall, it’s a pleasant track that specifically details a couple of events that would rather be forgotten, foregoing the vague lyrical themes of previous tracks, but linking them with the craft of music itself. You could say it is everyday horror embedded in the craft of music itself—the ultimate product when all the extraneous issues of music have been addressed.