The House Of Usher - Stars Fall Down download free

Whether they are or not, THE HOUSE OF USHER have an Irish accent to both the voice and the music, which gives their Goth-without-the-Rock sound enough of an edge to escape from the ultra-serious deep voice fangs and tomato juice brigade. As with many Goth acts, they assimilate and pay homage to JOY DIVISION. What's different here is that they somehow manage to avoid being straightforward copyists - they borrow ideas, but blend them into a more electronic-tinted backing with that Folk Music voice ensuring they're sufficiently original.The songs themselves have a distinctive sound, and most of them hook 'ya in an insidiously soft way, gradually working their way into your head over a period of time. After a while you soon realise there are no really weak tracks, and some real rich pickings among the fifteen tracks here.Bottom line is that they are strong enough to pass as Goth 'Easy Listening', but not cliched or extreme enough to be a leading light in this world of darkness.(The copy I was sent for review contained the following extra tracks: "Stars Fall Down When Gods Awake" (remix for "Paranoise" CD-comp), "Wrecked In Faith" (remix for "What Sweet Music They Make II" - compilation), "Witchcult" (remix for "Touched By The Hand Of Goth" - CD - comp), "The Seventh Claw Of Kali" (for "Celtic Circle Sampler III).Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.