Silent Servant's second album for Dominick Fernow's Hospital Productions foregrounds the EBM and industrial influences that have often been present in his work, particularly on 2012's acclaimed
Negative Fascination. While that album explored post-punk, shoegaze, and darkwave, yet still saved the last track for a lengthy, cruising techno excursion,
Shadows of Death and Desire is even more introverted, and doesn't have the type of propulsion of his club-ready 12"s. There is, however, a sense of panic to tracks like the single "Hand in Hand," which pairs paranoid,
Nitzer Ebb-worthy sequencers to echo-masked, rambling vocals which seem like they're coming from someone constantly flinching and peering over his shoulder. "Damage" does without lyrics, but there are still some sighs lurking from the shadows, and seemingly random extra notes poke out from the aggravated arpeggio sequence. "Loss Response" is the only track to have a solid 4/4 beat, but they sputter out beneath its weeping-willow synths after about three minutes. Following the frantic, insistent beats and distant yet searing guitar of "Glass Veil," the album's grandest moment comes when
Tropic of Cancer's Camella Lobo appears through the blurry haze that is "Optimistic Decay." While a little on the short side,
Shadows of Death and Desire is more of an immediate rush than other
Silent Servant releases, and its urgency sets it apart. ~ Paul Simpson