Brian Healy, the Godfather of Christian Goth, is back with another slab of classic twisted darkness and hope under the Dead Artist Syndrome banner.

Kissing Strangers
Artist:  Dead Artist Syndrome (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/deadartistsyndrome)
Label: Independent
Time: 10 tracks/48:56 min.

Brian Healy and company are finally back, with the album that almost killed Healy. Well, maybe not this album, but those that have been keeping up with Healy know he has suffered through a large number of health issues while recording Kissing Strangers over the past few years. I don’t know if your average artist could go through all of that and still crank out a quality album, but the godfather of Christian Goth does so with style.

While I’m not a fan of the cover art (even though I get where its influences are from), the connection the cover makes with Prints of Darkness is pretty accurate. Kissing Strangers connects with Prints of Darkness and moves forward at the same time. For example, “Misery Babe” kicks off the disc with a good connection to Healy’s past work, while the second track “Kissing Strangers” immediately kicks the disc into the next level D.A.S.

A couple of well-done covers are also added, including “Drone” by Idle Lovell. Yes, you read that correct.

As usual, Healy enlists a who’s who of musicians to help him realize his musical vision. A great collection of songs from start to finish that even has people who claim they never really like D.A.S. in the past saying they are now fans.

By Matt Crosslin (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) (June 16, 2015)