Despite my heavy metal background and my rekindled techno/electronica rebirth, one of my favorite bands is a gothic band. While Faith and the Muse embrace the gothic imagery and mimic the styles of the classic bands they also exude extremes in talented songwriting and beautiful sounds. Vera Causa is almost a hallmark to their work and an interestingly diverse compilation.

Vera Causa is a double album of opposite themes. The Morning CD is a motley collection of Faith and The Muse’s happier and folksy songs and rare demos. The Night CD is half live performance and half a set of dark-electro remixes of some popular hits. Naturally I played the Night CD on first listen and was instantly giddy to hear the rising drum anthems of the dark song ‘Cantus’. How I often exclaimed the powerful and sinister sounds of this band and their songs such as ‘The Silver Circle’ and ‘Arianrhod.’ Yet when people hear Faith and the Muse (FatM), they only like the Morning CD type songs... Hearing FatM performing live and exactly as the album is gripping. Such power and darkness can be had without bombastic guitars and swelling distortion? Its almost an unplugged concert here. And Monica Richards, a bona fide faerie-muse in my mind, pulls off everything with volume and that multi-faceted tone ranging from a faux British accent, folk-gypsy goddess, Lisa Gerrard-like incantations, and Stevie Nicks melody.

A burning take on the remixes - sorry, I grew up in the prestigious school of techno and to me, electro-goth is just the rebirth on undifferentiated new wave techno that hasn‘t caught up to their contemporaries: really too simple for me despite the remix dignitaries and despite using my favorite FatM tunes. Some of it approaches Collide’s early material but they didn’t remix. Others approach that god forsaken Rhea’s Obsession sound, which is just blaring. Remixes don’t work. Claire Voyant’s remix album was horrible. Mudvayne’s remixes suck. Liz Frasier’s talents were ruined. Originals always sound better.

The Morning CD is a refreshing continuation of Vera Causa. There is a classical choir song. There are rare demos of when William Faith and Monica first composed hits such as ‘Annwyne, Beneath the Waves,’ ‘All Lovers Lost,’ and ‘Heal’ all in their bare minimum sound. The CD booklet has the full story of how the two met a concert and then made these music together afterwards. There is an elaborate cover from Kate Bush and a fun Christian Death song with Monica assuming Rozz William’s accents. William Faith sings in a surprisingly smooth new wave style in the song ‘Soul in Isolation,‘ probably another cover. In the studio albums, William is a thunderous warlock in the few songs that feature his lead. The haunting feline song ‘In Dreams of Mine’ is exquisite song from a rare compilation. Its sad grace often reminds me of my dog who passed away this year and is probably one of my favorite FatM songs.

Score 3.75/5

/author/ Alzn