pMad – Trust Devoured (EP)
pMad – Trust Devoured (EP)
Self – Released
Release Date: 23/07/25
Running Time: 20:14
Review by Dark Juan
9/10
There are some people who play music who become friends – be this from the likes of Mancunian presenters of music that sounds like skeletons being chucked down steel stairs while a hopped-up sax player squeals on their squawky sex horn Pound Land or Stoke-based Industrialmentalists Omnibadger/Bael or even from the likes of Natallia Kramushchanka from Synaxaria in Belarus or Shane Murray of They Watch Us From The Moon in the US, there are many people who are wonderful, and it makes for a world that is brighter if you have friends around it. There is too much awfulness in the world, and it takes people like you and I reaching out across the Internet or however it happens and making those connections. So it is with pMad. Having lived in Ireland for a portion of my life, I have an affinity for the Emerald Isle and one of the people who make that connection (besides being terrified by Garth Kidd, the lead singer of Devilsome, but actually not having any sense of self-preservation and still taking the piss even though the muscular martial arts bastard could take me apart with considerable ease, as could both his wife and his small daughter) is Paul Dillon of pMad. He is a gentleman beyond compare and the fact that he plays EXACTLY the kind of Post-Punk/ Goff stuff that I adore just makes him an all-round good egg. So, when he reached out with a new pMad EP, it is safe to say that I snatched it up that fast I dislocated the poor sod’s arm. This is because I really love pMad’s music, as evidenced by these previous words –
https://www.ever-metal.com/tag/who-why-where-what
A bit of housekeeping first – “Trust Devoured” is an EP created in collaboration with other artists, and it is for the sake of clarity that I have written about it under the pMad moniker. I will explain myself…
This EP and project were inspired by the old parlour game called Exquisite Corpse, a game in which each participant takes turns writing or drawing on a sheet of paper, folding it to conceal his or her contribution, and then passing it to the next player for a further contribution. The game gained popularity in artistic circles during the 1920s when it was adopted as a technique by artists of the Surrealist movement to generate collaborative compositions. pMad, in collaboration with UK/US artist Lunar Paths and Australia’s Killtoys, decided to adapt this game to songwriting to see what happened if they took a single percussive pattern (in this case it is pMad’s ‘Feed’) and recorded what it said to them. It is a novel concept, and also there is considerable interest in hearing the other versions too, which means I am discovering new artists to boot!
The Platter of Splatter ™ is activated. The EP opens with ‘Celestial’, and it is as you would expect from pMad, all swoopy 80s vibes, chiming guitars and growling, thunderous bass overlaid with pMad’s cosseting, seductive baritone. The drumming on this tune is handled by Lunar Paths, yet it is still quintessentially a pMad song. Now, it is well known that Dark Juan is a Sad Old Goff and was around and utterly bewitched by Gothic Rock when it was around the first time, and the refrain of “All I ever wanted was you” on this song hits right in my twisted black heart and almost makes me feel something. Very much for fans of the more ethereal side of Goth, like Waterglass.
The next offering is ‘Closer’ with drumming handled by Killtoys – This is a slightly harder edged tune that is dripping with synth work yet has more of a New Wave feel than the previous song and is entirely bass-led. pMad ups the tone of his voice into a slightly higher register and it is frankly a glorious ego-led trip back to a time when ladies wore spike heeled boots and taffeta and were creating environmental problems be just leaving the house due to the sheer amount of hairspray they needed to maintain their outlandish coiffures, and men were clad in leather and silk and wore more makeup than the girls.
Next is pMad’s own composition, ‘Feed’ and it is a glorious melding of the Sisters of Mercy and Siouxsie and The Banshees, with the storytelling component of the lyric being rather reminiscent of Nick Cave to my ear. It too has all the hallmarks of classic Goth Rock with the grumble of slightly distorted bass underpinning the whole composition and again swirling, bell-like guitars that beguile and charm rather than bludgeon. Yet, it is affecting and heavy in its own crushed-under-the-weight-of-its-own-life fashion. It is unsurprisingly very good, but you’d expect nothing less from pMad, as Paul is the Irish Goffmeister.
Now, this is where I would normally end up ranting because the last two tunes on this record are remixes, and Dark Juan normally takes a dim view of remixes because he is normally of the opinion that they are cheap cash grabs. However, the remix of ‘Closer’ is pretty fucking groovy, melding Synthwave and Techno together to lend the tune a whole new dimension, the lyric and vocal although similar to the original, are somehow lifted into another version of reality, and it is the same for the remix of ‘Celestial’, which takes the Electronic sound of New Order and melds it to the unique fury of Joy Division with added Vaporwave. The electronic bass on this version is also predatory and dangerous and mightily satisfying if you are after a bit of sonic violence as an amuse bouche to go with your swooping Gothic Rock.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System (Córas rátála splancscáileáin fola Dark Juan atá paitinnithe – Haigh, a chairde Gaeilge! Is féidir liom a ráthú go hiomlán go bhfuil gach rud atá á scríobh agam go hiomlán mícheart, agus gabhaim mo leithscéal as sin, ach is Béarla mé agus, go hionraic, is míorúilt bheag é go bhfuil an oiread sin Gaeilge agam, nach gceapann sibh?) once more returns and continues its fine tradition of awarding pMad high scores – 9/10 is proffered this time and a mark has been deducted because it is not a full album and I want a new one – aren’t we overdue for one, Paul mate?
TRACKLISTING:
01. Celestial
02. Closer
03. Feed
04. Closer (IntiMate remix)
05. Celestial (CosMical remix)
LINE-UP:
pMad – Everything apart from the drums of ‘Closer’ and ‘Celestial’
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This preview is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this preview, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
