You've got to give Ghostfire credit for at the very least attempting something a little different from the norm. With THE LAST STEAMPUNK WALTZ this is a band taking their influences from the likes of Nick Cave, Johnny Cash and Tom Waits  and then running it through a sepia toned filter of 1880's cobbled streeted Absinthe slurping London and steampunk imagery; all in all, quite the intoxicating and gothically tinged backdrop.

 THE LAST STEAMPUNK WALTZ draws from all this imagery and influence to emerge as something suitably unique, traces of sea shanty, folk, gothic balladry and the burlesque are enough to keep you intrigued and interested throughout. Whilst Ghostfire are perhaps an outfit whose ideas and influences are a touch more intriguing than their actual musical output in all honesty, THE LAST STEAMPUNK WALTZ still has enough little quirks and charms to recommend it; though a smidge more personality and attitude wouldn't go amiss next time round, the vocals in particular suffering from a distinct lack of lived in gruffness, those Cave, Waits and Cash influences doing them no real favors here.

Still, Ghostfire offer up an interesting and intriguing proposition in THE LAST STEAMPUNK WALTZ, a single that feels like the prelude to something special once this band truly finds its feet, personality and confidence; as such, this is ultimately promising but not quite wholly satisfying.

A dark and menacing throwback to the eighties goth frenzy of bands like Bauhaus and the Sisters Of Mercy, Glasgow based three piece Kick To Kill are an outfit brewing up a similar sounding melting pot of cold synth stabs, throbbing guitar scapes and pitch black vocal intensity.

Front man Dave Cook croons in an unmistakably Glasgow accent, making out like Ian Curtis star crossed with Jim Reid;

RazorBladeKisses are a none more goth outfit hailing from Southampton and crafting dark, menacing nursery rhymes set to crunching guitars and minor key arpeggios. Persian vocalists Layla and Azadeh prove the bands main selling point, providing gently bleak melodies throughout the two songs on offer here.

BALLERINA is the sound of Evanescence by way of The Sisters Of Mercy, a violin plays mournfully in the background as simple crashing power chords provide some metallic aggression and Layla and Azadeh swoon playfully, the sugar sweet vocals veering between dark menace and sweet innocence, constantly shifting dynamics and playing with your emotions. On flipside, THE BUTTERFLY, RazorBladeKisses repeat the same basic principles, but this time replace the aggressive guitar action with minor key guitar work and programmed beats, a mournful and pitch black effort that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, this outfits true goth credentials.

Undoubtedly skilled at what they do, RazorBladeKisses can also feel a little to by-the-numbers at times, moments here on BALLERINA feel more like parody than they perhaps should. Still, all told, RazorBladeKisses do offer up accomplished goth nursery rhymes here that definitely tick all the right haunting, dreamy and eerie boxes.