A THOUSAND BADGERS IN LABOUR

'A Thousand Badgers in Labour' begins with a direct replication of Herzog's 'Nosferatu' soundtrack from '79 (Hope you paid your royalties lads...). It is, however, wonderfully done - creating a real sense of dread and ominousness, before those familiar distinctly English throaty vocals appear with more threats of doom and disaster for all who are willing to listen.

This lengthy and impressive opener fades into the 'folky' and somewhat disturbing 'Sleep Little Sister' with its distinctly psuedo-sexual dodgy lyrics. The sinister 'Nosferatu' soundtrack re-appears briefly before morphing into something far more gruesome involving the death of foresaid 'Little Sister'.

For British readers, the tune that follows is 'Slater Hogg and Howison, they Can do Anything...' An advert from the 80's that no matter how much research I do I can't find an answer to the classical composer.

Contrastate then bury themselves in swathes of gloomy keyboards and warped vocals where all sorts of enmity and malign thoughts are directed at the listener. If truth be told, it's pretty damn disturbing in a way that only the English can do. You won't find any hilarity here - nor guitars or drums for that matter.

'At the Bottom of my Dreams' - being the last track, lurks even further into the depths. Booming grim vocals and threatening keyboards makes this album feel that December 21st 2012 might happen after all. Yikes!