Despite what you may think, Arkansas is not an entirely inauspicious place to start a band.  On one side you have New Orleans, arguably the most Goth city in the universe; on the other you've got Mississippi, the home of William Faulkner.  (Four words: "A Rose For Emily."  'Nuff said).  And while there might not be a large "scene" to support Gothic artists, that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Lack of a scene can also mean a lack of pretension and drama: quite a few artists produce their best work away from any "scene."

And so Christian Cook and Timothy Bayless aka Mr. Gone and Requiem, the best (and to this reviewer's knowledge, only) Darkwave duo ever to come out of Arkansas, have given us "Inner Sanctum."

Libra1's debut effort begins on a high note, with "Pianoscape" and "The World Revolves Around You."  Christian Cook definitely has a solid sense of melody and a gift for hook-filled tunes.  "Hate" features a catchy keyboard riff and baritone vocals reminiscent of good mid-80s synthpop and "Lonely Machine" has a great, driving riff which gives nods to Nine Inch Nails and Skinny Puppy.  "Deprivation" features some interesting noises and interplay between chimes and piano which create an almost "World Music" feel. Throughout the proceedings this CD remains tuneful, listenable, and unpretentious -- something few releases, by bands major or minor, accomplish.

As it stands right now, Libra1 is a solid Darkwave band featurnig tow .  If I had my druthers, they would branch out a little more.  One of the advantages of a big art and music "scene" is the chance to be exposed to different material.  They've definitely listened to the "Old Masters" of Gothic/Industrial music -- you can hear echoes of Bauhaus, Sisters, etc. throughout this CD.  This is not to say that they're derivative, any more than Stevie Ray Vaughan was derivative because you could hear Delta Blues in his music. They've taken this form and mastered it, producing a good, solid Gothic CD.  Now I'd like to hear them incorporate elements of World Music, say, or Modern Classical.  Cook and Bayless are obviously both talented and intelligent musicians.  I look forward to hearing their work as they gain confidence and begin expanding their repertoire.

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