Vampires of Dartmoore – Dracula’s Music Cabinet

Continuing with the whole Dracula/vampire vibe, why don’t we take a nice long stroll down memory lane to when things made less sense than they do now, care to join me? I’ll start out by saying that this review will be straight forward and to the point so nobody should seem confused or have to ask themselves “so what does he think of the record?”. Vampires of Darmoore, a project that I literally knew nothing about and could find very little information on while searching the interwebz, seems to be a project that just wanted to confuse everyone that listened to them.  “Dracula’s Music Cabinet” is, from what I know, the only record they released to date but it seems to have a cult following that most will never understand. Some of the cult followings that I enjoy are those of Doctor Who, the book Cold Mountain and my all-time favorite video game, Shenmue. So, what do all of these things have in common with “Dracula’s Music Cabinet”? Well, at points in time they all make absolutely zero sense but feel very important and loved to the point that I try my hardest to follow them and the creators of them as closely as possible.

“Dracula’s Music Cabinet” was actually introduced to me by a good friend that we call “Sleazy”, the one guy that lives half way across the world but knows how to open my heart with amazing things. First off, thanks goes out to Sleazy for recommending this because it’s opened my mind to a whole new dimension that I never knew existed. Now, this record is by far not for everyone, it’s awkward, weird and very much the epitome of what good music is, in my opinion. On the other hand, the majority of people will think that it was a waste of thirty minutes they spent listening or however long you let this record spin, if you even check it out. The samples and sound effects used on “Dracula’s Music Cabinet” are some that should of been used in multiple other records but I’m glad they used them because it’s a fucking goldmine the way that they did. The other great thing about this record is that it’s pretty much a soundtrack to a film that never existed. I mean, who the hell gets together around a table with some wine and says “hey, let’s put together a record that sounds just like a 1960s soundtrack to a classic black and white vampire film but never find a film or create a film for it to be apart of.” Seriously, who the hell does that? I’m far from complaining because in reality I wish I would of thought of the idea.

I literally have zero complains about this record as a whole, it sets a mood or sexual, stalking the night alone to search for that goddess-like woman that you’ve fallen in love with but also a vibe of cheerfulness with it’s upbeat tempos. From the funky bass lines and the simple yet catchy drum patters, you feel as if you were stuck inside a film that should of been made to the beyond catchy and melodic organ playing that might have you dancing around like a child in a diaper. “Dracula’s Music Cabinet” has a million things going on at once and if you want to try to keep up, I recommend giving it a chance because you’ll only have two options; you’ll either love it as much as I do and think it’s the best thing ever created or you’ll hate it and turn it off after ten or so seconds.

“Dracula’s Music Cabinet” deserve the cult following it has and I’m honored to have been shown this record by a dear friend. The only advice I can give you though is that if you hate weird, creepy, dysfunctional, awkward things, don’t even bother with this record but if you do, go ahead and see if the sexy vampire will sneak up on you with those beautiful, shiny fangs.

Listen to “Der Feuerdrachen” below:

Download the record here.