Although already released digitally earlier this month, Canadian uber-goth Titan Herr Nox is re-issuing this new album in a limited Gold vinyl run through his Bandcamp page later this month. If you have a yen for that which dwells in the shadows, or just like an occasional slab of Gary Numan in your listening diet, I suggest you head over to the man’s Bandcamp page soonest and avail yourself of his sonic wares.

I’m joking about the Numan bit – of course I was, you knew that already, right? – because Herr Nox is a little more sophisticated than ol’ wiggy; the louche instrumental Gotta Light (which features a nice cameo from saxophone wielding nutcase Jørgen Munkeby of Shining renown) reeks of the sort of sleaze Bryan Ferry ate and drank for breakfast in his Roxy days, whilst the edgy hard rock of Kiss The Butcher’s Hand is a gnat’s chuff (and a well-placed, breathy female vocal) away from creating the sort of ice-cold new wave grandeur of early eighties names like Animotion and Berlin. In other words, it’s quit superb…

Did I mention female vocals? Well, they are present here and there, contributed by former Cradle of Filth alumnus Lindsay Schoolcraft, but for my money the girl is a tad underused, relegated to largely an embellishing role when occasionally a bigger slice of the spotlight might have widened the scope of the songs – Heads Will Roll especially would have benefitted from more Schoolcraft. And songcraft.

But enough of my ‘humour’. Where Shadows Fade is a genuinely engaging piece of goth pop-rock, and with a large, Warner-shaped hole now sitting in the market for music like this, Herr Nox’s time could well be now. He’s got the skill for sure – will he get that little bit of luck all success stories need? Watch this space.

The vinyl version of Where Shadows Fade releases on February 26th.