DE VAN – Planet Botox
- by Matt Coe
- Posted on 06-10-2011
An interesting cocktail of influences here on this Swedish act’s debut album “Planet Botox”. Forming in 2009 they gained attention right out of the gate for composing a theme song to the European MTV show PlayUs. Much of the guitar play from De Van has that Disturbed staccato driven groove, and yet the keyboards provide more of a HIM meets Nightwish melodic/gothic overtone. Singer/songwriter Eric De Van has a confident, commercial oriented voice, palatable throughout heavier material like “Shine” or “Run” and ready for the more melodic or radio friendly numbers such as “Plastic Surgery” or Rain”.
The reliance on computer effects through some of the vocals distracts from the obvious natural ability these musicians have – the title track being the clearest example of a slight overemphasis on technology that could have been pulled back. De Van make the heavy and gothic sides blend together rather well – so I wouldn’t be surprised if this catches fire in both markets.