there was a period of time where i fanatically collected anything and everything related to Tool. i figured that any genius recommends only those who are in the same trade and began accumulating different artists from all strands of the musical quilt. through Tool i found works by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Autolux, A Perfect Circle, Abandoned Pools, Queens of The Stone Age, Peach, 12 Rounds, ZAUM, King Crimson, and, yes, Collide. though pleased by the musical panoply, i feel now that my exposure to these musicians deadened my critical eye. historically i simply relegated all aberrations to overzealous fan appreciation, but never really bothered to investigate the merits of [most of] the recommended works themselves.

Collide is industrial but leans heavily towards techno and electro-Goth. the fact that the members behind the work go by the names of Statik and kaRIN should have been a major hint at the general orientation of the music and the song titles themselves should have been warning shots. Collide instantaneously reminds me of Bowery Electric, at least vocally. both kaRIN and Martha Schwendener portray a kind of drugged-up lethargy and both don't change even a soupcon of their musical characteristics. the difference is that Bowery Electric isn't as self-parodic as Collide; Schwendener lulls you to sleep while kaRIN just makes you feel like you're listening to a bad album dedication to The Crow: City of Angels.

nonetheless, there are some strong points to Chasing The Ghost. the cover of Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit' is, ummm, kind of neat, while 'Halo' and 'Dreamsleep' are somewhat impressive because of the texture. the closing song, 'Like You Want to Believe,' is somewhat palatable--if stainless steel rebar is your preferred dessert--but certainly only adds to the general disappointment and bland flavor already lingering. i have yet to hear music based on Gothic culture--itself a seemingly loose approximation of an abstract movement--that doesn't employ the same overused themes of magick, dreams, or some derivation of industrial phantasmagoria. still, i'm not going to discard Chasing The Ghost, if only for humor and posterity.