Bender's gothy/dreamy death blues is hypnotizing, relaxing and disturbing all at once. Like a heroin addict, this music nods off in mid-song, only to reawaken and with a taste for blood. Put this record on when you go to bed, and while it will sing you off to sleep, it's guaranteed to give you nightmares. Swirling guitars that sound like a dog's low growl before he bites are accompanied by lonesome, hopeless vocals. If Nick Cave, Low, slow Sonic Youth, or Sixteen Horsepower appeal to you, then Bender is the next logical step into the abyss. Abandon all hope ye who enter here.

Brad Filicky