LIPSHOK hails from San Francisco, California. The band is quite experienced with performing, having been a cover band before taking on their current vein of Gothic Rock music. They recorded their first album in 2010 and have since released 3 more albums, including their most recent "Shadows of a Dark Heart" that came out in late 2020. This self-released album is mainly Goth Rock but also has some Hard Rock and Melodic Rock mixed in throughout. Read on for a track by track breakdown.

  

"Answer the Call" begins with some dramatic pipe organ. I almost expected the rest of the song to mesh with the spooky intro, but it honestly does not. The song instead goes more of a pure Rock route with some decently catchy vocal hooks. "Don't Fear Defeat" and "Looking Glass" were darker, had more of the Goth Rock feel I was hoping for. The layers of vocals and instruments like bells and chimes plus gloomy guitar riffs was great too. "Without a Flame" is a surprising ballad. It almost sounds like a Pop Ballad at first with the piano melody, but it unfolds into a Power Ballad once the guitar kicks in. It's a melancholy track, but the guitar solo evokes plenty of passion alongside the powerful lyrics.

 

"And So He'll Fly" kicks you right back into Hard Rock territory following that ballad. The chuggy bass lines plus some shreddy guitar riffs keeps you drawn in during this track. "Alive Once More" is a lovely Melodic Rock track with some pleasant orchestration added in. "Revenge" gets dramatic, not just lyrically but stylistically. The layered vocals were fun to listen to and well done. I like the sudden turn with the sadder keys at the bridge just before the solo too. "Unknown" has some beautiful piano work. Scarlett's vocals were heartachingly beautiful in this despairing closing track too. I also dug the synths toward the end of the song, gave it a pure Goth feel.

 

Overall, "Shadows of a Dark Heart" is a solid Melodic Goth Rock album. A lot of the instrumentation was done well, even though I found myself losing interest at times. There were elements I enjoyed throughout like the wonderful alto ranged vocals, often layered at the best times. The keys were great too, especially when they were more like synthesizers. It gave it an old school Goth Rock touch, which I always encourage. There were also some catchy hooks and some surprising genre blending at points as well. Basically, the way the band describes themselves is pretty spot on to what they sound like and it was done well, give or take some odd mixing issues.