It is quite funny: while just writing the review to the latest Zeraphine single I again had to control myself not to conjure up comparisons with the good old times, as Science Of Coma crosses my way and exactly provokes this all by itself (but without disturbing side effects).
TORRID, the German one-man-project by Stefan Richter, in my opinion hints strongly to early Dreadful Shadow releases, especially the way keyboards and guitars gets combined as well as related structures in melodies and singing. To make it clear: this guy has not reached such a level by far, but he is on a good way to achieve it one day. Crux of the matter is indeed the singing that still lacks of vocal range and a firm intonation. To compensate this deficit a female guest singer brings variation, especially at the refrains.
As already hinted at, all these mostly lengthy tracks offer ambitious Wave/Gothic Rock, where neither electronics nor “hand-made” elements get pushed into the foreground. Instead TORRID aims at a clever synthesis of both and quite succeeds in compositional matters. So, it is even more unfortunate that the guitars are too low in the mix which foils the aimed effect.
Nevertheless: I like tracks like the opener Snow Of Syberia and the epic Wasteland and I think they should be accepted by most of potential buyers. I’m curious about the further progression of this project! The last track Infinity additionally displays a huge Diary Of Dreams influence, without showing the weak spot of a direct copy.
All things considered: with Science Of Coma you will get a well-done work and TORRID is surely worth keeping an eye on it!