Steve Monti (The Jesus & Mary Chain, Curve, Cocteau Twins, Sulpher, Gang Of Four, Gary Numan) and  Ian Baird (The Adoring Heirs, Spring Clock Wonder, Omnibus 11, Falo 6) have collaborated across an ocean to achieve a sound that is pleasurably challenging to classify.  Their tracks layer smoky-light melodies with a weighty industrial wall of sound.  The songs are dense and sophisticated but not too earnest to be catchy.  Melodic hooks and riffs tempt the listener’s senses and imagination. Ian’s vocals expertly range from whisper to wail and the melody is never lost in the pulsing fervor of massive guitar crescendos and the crunch of mechanical din.  Vastly different cadences and rhythms are masterfully weaved together without a shred of dissonance. There isn’t a single wasted second here; each silence is deliberate and supports every static and surge to feed the climax.  A sense of dystopian-dark peppers the atmosphere in these tracks with lyrics both soft and sharp.  One is easily transported into a del Toro-esque film landscape with this remarkable music; Shockbox have truly created disturbing beauty in darkness.

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