Silence of Another Kind

Most female-led goth metal acts tend to sound quite a bit like the two poles of the style, Nightwish's "Stevie Nicks goes black metal" vibe or Evanescence's considerably more pop-oriented style. Sweden's Paatos split the difference, avoiding both the commercial sheen of the latter and the Euro-metal clichés of the former; as a result, Silence of Another Kind sounds like nothing so much as a really good late-era Siouxsie and the Banshees record. Pertonella Nettermalm's attractively chilly, low-toned murmur of a voice is the band's most appealing feature, and her cello blends with Richard Nettermalm's musical saw and Johan Wallén's Mellotron and harmonium to create neo-psychedelic atmospheric touches around the songs' goth rock drones. "Your Misery" and "There Will Be No Miracles" (which sounds bizarrely like the Cardigans' less twee side) are particularly strong, catchy dark-pop songs, but the album as a whole is a surprisingly effective meld of pop hooks and moody posturing.