A goth rock promoter in Philadelphia once described goth artists as "romantic people in an unromantic world," and to be sure, goth rockers tend to be the sort of people who have little or no patience with the mundane. They tend to be very imaginative, which is why the subject matter of goth rock CDs isn't mundane, dark and morbid, perhaps, but hardly mundane. If death metal and grindcore bands are the musical equivalent of a Freddie Kreuger or Jason movie, goth rockers have more in common with the television horror classic Dark Shadows. Fans of that 1960s/early-'70s soap opera will tell you it was far from a superficial bloodfest, it had a darkly poetic quality and could be quite charming in its own disturbing way. And the words "darkly poetic" also describe
Nosferatu's
The Prophecy, which finds Niall Murphy replacing the band's original lead vocalist Louis DeWray. Murphy had no problem taking DeWray's place, and he shows himself to be an equally expressive singer on memorable offerings like "Grave Desires," "Farewell My Little Earth," and "The Enchanted Tower." These songs are dark and troubling but not shocking, while an amelodic death metal or grindcore band would use shock value to grab your attention, the very melodic
Nosferatu is a lot more intricate (both musically and lyrically). Like a Dark Shadows story line, the songs on
The Prophecy maintain your attention with intriguing plots. As it turned out, the Niall Murphy/Vlad Janicek/Damien DeVille lineup heard on this CD didn't last long; in 1995, Murphy was replaced by Dominic LaVey. Released on Cleopatra in the U.S. and on
Nosferatu's own Possession label in the U.K.,
The Prophecy is easily recommended to goth rock enthusiasts. ~ Alex Henderson