(thing) by Pessimistic Views Wed Jul 30 2003 at 19:39:28

The Birthday Massacre is a synthpop/industrial/goth/electronic six-member band out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The group orginally started out as a project which combined both audio and visual aspects back in 1999. The experience is rather, well, "whimsical." They combine elements of children's fantasy and fiction (think Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, and The Neverending Story, the latter of which band member Michael Falcore is obsessed with; the band even recorded a cover of its theme song) with an overall dark, but soothing, ambiance. Videos of their songs also make use of this element. Their work is enveloping and captivating, and it is something to behold.

The Birthday Massacre was first conceived between Chibi, Rainbow, and Aslan. The three were attending Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, Canada at the time. Chibi and Rainbow were studying fine art at the college. The three began to put some stuff together. Rainbow had known Michael Falcore since they were children, and later invited him to join the group. Falcore had been studying video production in Toronto, and brought some of his work to add to show the group. The four started a band which they named "Imagica." They obtained a keyboardist (Dank) and played their first gig at Diversity nightclub in London, on October 28th, 2002. At this time, they also released a demo CD of seven songs.

Their performance at Diversity brought them much attention. This encouraged them to move on to bigger things, first by relocating to Toronto the following summer. Dank left the band at this point, though they had also acquired a drummer, O-en (who later moved to playing keyboards exclusively after the arrival of full-time drummer Rhim). A new demo CD of five songs was released December 10, 2001 from Dire Studios, and an album release began to be planned.

Up until this time, The Birthday Massacre was still going by the name "Imagica." This stopped in spring 2002, when it was discovered that they might face legal problems, as there was a similarly named band out there. This was a big disruption to the group. They decided to rename the band to "The Birthday Massacre," after a song they had carried for a long time. They renamed this song "Happy Birthday." This issue remedied, The Birthday Massacre went on to release a special limited edition of their album "Nothing and Nowhere" in July 2002. It featured nine mastered songs of polyphonic bliss. This earned them more and more fans, and their website and mp3.com account's activity shot through the roof, setting them on their way. The band is alternately in the studio or on tour, having finished their first tour of the USA in early 2006, and their music has been featured in an independent film by Chad Peter entitled "Drugs."

The Birthday Massacre is:

Former members:

  • Dank (keyboards, 2000-2001)
  • Adm (live keyboards, 2002-2004)
  • Aslan (bass guitar, 2000-2007)

Discography

DEMO 1 - (as Imagica) Released October 28, 2000 by Dire Studios

  1. Over
  2. Remember Me
  3. Under the Stairs
  4. The Birthday Massacre
  5. Nothing and Nowhere
  6. Queen of Hearts
  7. Night Time

DEMO 2 - (as Imagica) Released December 10, 2001 by Dire Studios

  1. The Birthday Massacre
  2. Horror Show
  3. Broken
  4. Over
  5. Promise Me

Nothing and Nowhere - Released July 23, 2002 by Dire Studios, re-released in 2005 by Metropolis Records

  1. Happy Birthday
  2. Horror Show
  3. Promise Me
  4. Under the Stairs
  5. To Die For
  6. Video Kid
  7. Over
  8. Broken
  9. The Dream

Violet - Released July 15, 2005 by Metropolis Records

  1. Prologue
  2. Lovers End
  3. Violet
  4. Red
  5. Play Dead
  6. Blue
  7. Black
  8. Holiday
  9. Nevermind

Blue DVD - Released August 20, 2005 by Dire Records, and distributed by Metropolis Records

  1. Blue (video directed by Dan Ouellette, who has also directed videos for David Bowie and Android Lust among others)
  2. Violet (live video)
  3. Video Kid (live collage video)
  4. Nevermind (video directed by Aslan)

Walking With Strangers - Released September 10, 2007 by Metropolis Records

  1. Kill The Lights
  2. Goodnight
  3. Falling Down
  4. Unfamiliar
  5. Red Stars
  6. Looking Glass
  7. Science
  8. Remember Me
  9. To Die For 2007
  10. Walking With Strangers
  11. Weekend
  12. Movie

Looking Glass (EP) - Released May 6, 2008 by Metropolis Records

Show and Tell (live album) - Released May 5, 2009 by Metropolis Records

Pins and Needles (album) - Released September 14, 2010 by Metropolis Records

In The Dark (album) - Released October 8, 2012 by Metropolis Records

Superstition (album) - Released November 11, 2014 by Metropolis Records

Under Your Spell (album) - Released June 9, 2017 by Metropolis Records

You can listen to samples of various songs at the URLs listed below:

http://www.nothingandnowhere.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheBirthdayMassacre

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