SUSPIRIA

Not quite reaching the intricate and original style of the following Fairytales of Slavery, Miranda Sex Garden's sound on Suspiria is reminiscent of Siouxsie and the Banshees mellowing out and doing torch songs (with adeptly chosen covers like In Heaven from David Lynch's Eraserhead and the old standard My Funny Valentine teasing out that concept nicely). Weaving between gothic rock, shoegaze, ethereal wave and dream pop, the album flirts with all of those styles without entirely settling down with one, making this a diverse blend of alternative rock styles whose experimental approach has made it an intriguing piece worth exploring even this long after the fact. Though on balance I still think Fairytales of Slavery is a superior album, I can see why the experiments here were needed in order to get there.