One of the leading lights of the ever-burgeoning synthwave movement, Los Angeles’ DANCE WITH THE DEAD originally self-released The Shape – their third album overall – in 2016, but NEUROPA stepped in the following year to release it both on vinyl and CD formats.
As the label stated early on (and why NEUROPA has continued to work with these legends-in-the-making), DANCE WITH THE DEAD succeed where so many fail: they display a unique blend of dark electro, heavy metal, and nostalgic ‘80s-inspired synthwave that keeps you tied to your chair. Indeed, The Shape was – and still is – a spellbinding record, pounding and pulsing across the dancefloor with darkest desire but equally instilling an ever-present sense of dread. It teases, in a sense, weaving come-hither synth-lines that soon transform into nuclear-powered beasts of energy, thus making the album both approachable and pulverizing. Despite this abundance of hard-hitting heft, The Shape still unfolds like a horror-movie score, arguably encapsulating everything magickal about DANCE WITH THE DEAD in its most concise form. Back in print, for very good reason!
