The tick-tick-ticking of the ride cymbal, the foreboding, Satanic riff… is this a heretofore undiscovered Slayer track we’re about to be treated to?

No, it’s not – it’s the intro to the title track of gothic Chanteuse Shaam Larein‘s new album, which when translated into English means Stick A Knife Into The World, which is pretty Slayeresque in sentient I guess, but there’s a hell of a lot more here to get your teeth into than just old metal riffs, let me tell you…

Not that there’s anything wrong with metal riffs, obviously – and there are a few here to set the pulse racing if that’s what floats your boat – but Ms Larein really does transcend genre boundaries on this album with an effortless style and verve that takes in it’s influences at one end and spits them out fully repurposed and ready to delight at the other in a fashion that is frankly hard to resist. Elmer Hallsby‘s roving basslines are at the heart of much that is good about this album – this is gothic rock, after all, and the danker tones provided by four strings always have their part to play – but it’s Larein who holds the attention consistently throughout with a fabulous performance that’s equal parts controlled menace, filigree flamboyance and, well, just massive talent.

The best example of how the pure power of her voice can animate a song comes in the largely unadorned (instrumentally) Leave Me Here To Die, wherein Larein’s multi-tracked vocals, backed by a tribal drum tattoo from Mille Hökengren, call to the listener’s primal instincts in beguiling style. If you love Siouxsie Sioux in her most ‘artistic’ guises, you’re absolutely gonna lap this up, let me tell yas…

Johan Borgström adds enough metal with his intelligent injections of six string flair to keep the more ferrously-attracted fan happy, with the upshot being a hugely enjoyable listen for anybody who likes a dash of the darkly mysterious added to their musical diet every now and then.

Sticka En Kniv I Världen is out now.