The Hellset Orchestra - The Carrousel Awaits...

The Goth Pogues. Gorgol Bordello under a full moon. Queen at Goose Fair. With fireworks. Hellset could easily spearhead a goth-glam revival should, god forbid, it ever happens; thank heavens then, that they're so inimitably unique. Veering from November Rain cum Bohemian Rhapsody anthemics ('Bakare's Secret Space Station') through the Arcade Fire horror of the sprawling title track and back again ('Ferocious Ass'), The Carrousel Awaits is almost A Night at the Opera for the 21st Century; an ambitious, wide-eyed project and three quarters of an hour of gritty scuzz rock, Romany harmonics, operatic explosions and string cacophonics, consummate in its outrageousness.

Glam might have become a dirty word since Mika picked up Bolan's mantle, but The Hellset Orchestra are dangerously close to bringing it back and making it credible - tracks like '1970s Projection of the Future' are power-pop Modest Mouse, while 'Welcome to the Sorcery Clan' is Nick Cave with organs, only a little more morbid. It's this approach, ignoring boundaries lesser bands would fall at and creating music on their own terms, that sees Hellset so effortlessly carve out their own sound. Contrasts are what they do best; at times they're pushing the prim-ometer, pianos and violins lacedly intertwined, whilst their most extreme shoegaze moments see vocalist Michael's bloodied fists tearing right through your speakers. In short, hellishly brilliant.

The Hellset Orchestra, with support from Swimming, launch The Carrousel Awaits at The Rescue Rooms this Saturday (29th). Tickets are still onsale here and, for a credit crunch busting fiver, you get the album thrown in for free.

For the rest of you, it's in the shops from the 1st

www.myspace.com/hellsetorchestra