I’m beginning to think that Michael Ciravolo’s little black book of contact numbers has voodoo powers. Every time he flicks through it and finds someone to collaborate with the end result is always as if he has conjured an already classic song from a parallel universe. Most people just have the phone number of their dentist or their energy provider complaints department written down, I can only assume that Michael has sonic spells and arcane conjurations in his.
This time out he hooks up with Curse Mackey, best known for prominent participation in PIGFACE and ongoing stints with My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult and a host of other darkwave, post-punk and industrial acts, as well a solo album, Instant Exorcism, which saw him collaborate with the great and good of those musical communities. His voice sits perfectly with the Beauty in Chaos trademark sound, a sound which seems to be part low-slung rock and roll, part contemporary goth or put another way, one foot on the monitor, one foot in the grave!
A Kind Cruelty echoes with the sort of dark anthemics which The Mission have made a career trading in, so it is unsurprising to find that Wayne Hussey is no stranger to the Beauty in Chaos circle of friends. And that is the right term for what Michael Ciravolo has created here. It is more than a band, more than a studio project, it is a collaborative community of musicians, a circle of like minded creatives, a musical coven trading in the dark sonic arts. Yes, dark sonic arts as I’m sure that there music be some witchiness afoot here, it’s the most logical explanation.
