Magick Daggers - Lions of Alchemy
Review by Stephanie Beaumont

A Beautiful Paradox – "Lions of Alchemy" album review

"Hush hush now..."

If you don't give it much listen, Magick Daggers' debut album, "Lions of Alchemy" comes across as your standard neo-post-punk fair. However, if you give it a chance, the many layers of the music will reveal themselves: slinky, haunting, and somehow energizing all at once.

The album is reminiscent of Tinderbox by Siouxsie and the Banshees at times but make no mistake - Magick Daggers' sound is all their own. As an example, "Lonesome Town" is transformed into something that wouldn't be out of place in a bizarro world version of a film-noir movie, and "She Bleeds Rubies" is a track suited to a night time world of skewed camera angles and rumbling thunder.

Their soundscapes feel painstakingly molded and the result is excellent. With gorgeous instrumentation and vocals that sound like hallucinatory messages heard only by one who's trapped in ice and going under, they echo in one's ears and slip away before returning. They are truly the stand out element of the songs.

On a whole, the album is a beautiful paradox; distant yet intimate, ominous yet uplifting. "Lions of Alchemy" is worth a listen and then some.

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