Info
By their third long-player (and second since the traumatizing defection of original singer Anders Fridén), The Mind's I, Dark Tranquility were making very positive strides, gaining in confidence, but still playing serious catch-up to In Flames and At the Gates in the battle of the Gothenburg extreme metal bands. Yes, their dated and overly laborious early-'90s Swedish death metal habits had by now largely and wisely been replaced by more economical (read: shorter) songwriting, their melodies were ever more evident within the ruling metallic mayhem, and former guitarist Mikael Stanne had fully come into his own as a lead vocalist, but that didn't mean that speedy new offerings like "Scythe, Rage and Roses" and "Dissolution Factor Red" were inspired enough to fully stand out from the pack. And as proven by the surprising female lead vocal heard in "Insanity's Crescendo," the part-acoustic, part-industrial title track, and the undoubtedly interesting but very much schizophrenic "Dreamlore Degenerate" and "Hedon," DT were still experimenting with all manner of ulterior motives in search a distinctive voice with which to challenge their inner-city rivals. As it was, even The Mind's I's top candidates, such as "Zodijakyl Light," "Still Moving Sinews," and "Tidal Tantrum," merely provided a preview of the successful melodic death metal formula yet to come, but it would take additional trials by its immediate successor, 1999's Projector (the arrival of keyboardist Martin Brändström, Stanne's short-lived adoption of clean, warbling singing tones), to pave the way for Dark Tranquility's astounding coming-of-age magnum opus, 2000's Haven. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide
Cat Power: 'I wanted to die'
Chan Marshall says a fierce battle with alcoholism and depression forced her to cancel tour earlier this year, but she's much better now.
To anyone who has followed the career of Cat Power, the cancellation of her US tour last February wasn't much of a surprise.
Cat Power
The much-acclaimed singer (real name Chan Marshall), had made a habit over the years of canceling gigs, aborting them midway through, and often delivering shows that were less than focused, to put it mildly.
Now the singer has come clean about her behavior, telling The New York Times that she has been battling alcoholism and substance abuse for years and that the February cancellations came at a moment when she was suicidal.
"I was looking at death," Marshall told the paper. "I wanted to die. I asked God, I said, 'I'm tired, I can't do this.' I was asking him to just take me."
The breakdown came just two weeks before the January release of The Greatest, her now critically lauded album backed by a band of veteran Memphis soul session musicians. Marshall holed up in her Miami apartment for a week, turned off the phone, played Miles Davis on repeat, and stopped eating and sleeping.
"She drank to oblivion and prayed to die," the paper wrote.
A friend discovered her condition and took her to a nearby hospital, where she was admitted for psychiatric treatment. Matador Records, Marshall's label, was forced to cancel the tour and took a $100,000 financial hit for doing so.
She was released from the hospital after a week and has been relatively sober ever since, consuming only seven drinks over a seven-month period. Marshall said she still takes antidepressant medication.
Marshall resumed her tour in April, playing the Coachella festival, and Marshall said she slowly but surely has recovered and gained her confidence on stage. She played 11 US dates this month and will tour Europe in November.
Marshall said that her next album, Sun, is already written, and she is contemplating a follow-up to 2000's The Covers Record, possibly covering songs by the likes of James Brown and Billie Holiday.
And in the most unexpected admission in the Times story, Marshall said that she had been invited to play Jude Law's ex-lover in a movie being filmed by director Wong Kar-wai and that she is thinking about auditioning to join the cast of Saturday Night Live next summer.
Just added
