Band:	Desire (SWE)
Album:	There Where Candles Fade
Style:	Gothic metal
Release date:	June 1996

01. Insane
02. Stab In The Back
03. Let Me Come Inside
04. Beyond Gehennah
05. Senseless Eternity
06. Distance
07. The Awakening
08. Factory Second
09. There Where Candles Fade

Desire is a gothic rock band coming from the frozen Sweden, a country that is very productive mainly in the world of metal with so many wonderful bands concerning many different genres. Despite the obvious The Sisters of Mercy/The Mission influences (which are unavoidable for every gothic rock band), Desire doesn't copy those two wonderful and utterly influencial bands but they harmonize their influences with their very own beautiful-sounding ideas sounding heavier but lyrical at the same time.

"There Where Candles Fade" is their second official release, sounding more mature than their debut album and more inspired for sure. Wonderful gothic rock guitar riffing, but in a heavier distortion, along with unerring accompanying drumming and bass lines and beautiful keyboard melodies with a singer reminding at times The Mission's Wayne Hussey's lyricism and emotional voice, yet always keeping his personal way of interpretation flirting with melancholic emotions. And now guess who is behind the production of "There Where Candles Fade", one of the legends of the Swedish Death Metal scene, Hypocrisy's Peter Tagtgren himself. He recorded and mixed the album at his Abyss Studio and he is also taking part in one composition of the album doing the backing vocals.

The album begins with a goth n' roll dynamite, "Insane", wonderful guitar riffing and descriptive interpretation by the charismatic Jussi. During the refrain you can listen to the aggressive backing vocals of Peter Tagtgren adding a more intense feeling (can you imagine Tagtgren in the forthcoming years in make-up and playing gothic?). The album continues with "Stab in the Back", a mid-tempo composition with some heavier moments, but always remaining in the terms of heavier gothic rock. The female vocals give a beautiful and ethereal sense to the whole feeling of the song and pace with Jussi's warm and expressive voice. "Let me come inside" which follows is an utterly emotional composition with beautiful-sounding guitar chords and wonderful riffing when we reach the refrain in which Jussi's calm and emotional voice turns to ecstatic intense singing as a female voice adds here and there a beautiful melancholic sense to the song.

The album flows wonderfully with "Beyond Gehennah", one of my favorite gothic rock songs of the 90s, with emotional guitar chords and Jussi's expressive voice escalating the whole depressive feeling of the song during the refrain to slowly reach after this opus a "Senseless Eternity", a mid-tempo composition with awesome riffing for one more time and keyboards here and there evoking an emotional atmosphere pacing with the beautiful lyrics. The emotional charge goes on with "Distance" where bittersweet guitar chords and Jussi evoke melancholic emotions of love that overrun your heart cutting you deep with rose-leafs; the beautiful-sounding and emotional female vocals are here for one more time to make the whole atmosphere more painful and intense. These guys definitely know how to touch you deep inside with pure emotions straight from fragile hearts.

"The Awakening" follows, beautiful esoteric lyrics of inner heal after an inner storm and will to go on, "can't you see my world is changing? Can't you see I was forced to bleed?" while female voices here and there add a beautiful intense feeling to the already emotionally charged atmosphere evoked by wonderful guitar chords and riffs. The album continues with "Factory Second", a good composition with inspired heavier guitar riffing and intense ecstatic singing by Jussi; not the best composition of the album but paces wonderfully with the whole atmosphere. The album ends in a melancholic tone with the homonymous composition "There where candles fade", an almost instrumental experimental psychedelic/gothic rock piece including some distorted recites.

Gothic (and doom I could say) metal fans can easily proceed (gothic rock fans for sure, this is a masterpiece). I'm sure you will like this release, filled with emotion and inspiration. "There where candles fade" may you lose yourselves?