Dommin
Love Is Gone
Roadrunner
By Al Kaufman
With the Twilight series so popular for the teenage girls, it seems to only make sense that goth-rock make a pitch for them as well. And Kristofer Dommin, the force behind Dommin, is the perfect poster child for the cause. With his pretty boy looks, lovelorn attitude, and the ability to garner up more than a hint of anger, many a black eyeliner-wearing girl would be willing to let him have a nibble on her neck.
And the music backs it up. Full of ominous piano and slithering strings, (in addition to some blistering guitars) the songs all convey a sort of romantic mysticism about them. Like any good goth rocker, Dommin can put out some serious throat shredding, as he does on “I Still Lost.” But as angry and passionate as the chorus of that song is, the melodies and vocals for the verses are pretty and full of yearning. It’s a Jekyll and Hyde game that Dommin does well. While the romantic “Tonight” would fit in on a Depeche Mode mixed tape, many of the cuts, such as “Making the Most” or “My Heart, Your Hands,” are slowly building epics that recall Type O Negative, or, when he really cuts loose, Danzig. He even recalls the moody and brooding Jim Morrison on the dark but jazzy piano-driven “Without End,” which again builds into a frothing frenzy.
But Kris Dommin knows if he wants to get the girls, he needs to show a softer side. Love Is Gone shows Dommin to be a downright sensitive guy who seems to be looking for love in all the wrong places. He wants to trust and he wants to love, but the poor boy has been hurt too many times. “Do you remember what it feels like to fall in love?” he pleads on the sugary ballad “Remember.” Yes, this goth rock band will have more than its share of females in the audience at its concerts.
Dommin play Center Stage with HIM on Monday, May 3. Tickets are on sale here.
