With many things in life, there is a need to balance the sour with the sweet - to counterbalance the softness of femaleness with the rough, jagged texture of masculinity. Those moments when male and female traits intertwine and amicably coexist make for the most fruitful of situations. For one Ohio duo, the finesse of merging sharp and smooth sounds seems almost effortless. Deliver This Creature is the first full length album from Cleveland-based Mr. Gnome and although the band is comprised of just one man and one woman, the album’s substantial volume is pretty overwhelming. Nicole Barille’s bellowing voice rips through each song with audacious intensity. Her thundering guitar and Sam Meister’s pounding drums are equally as acerbic and loud. Their simple but substantial instrumentation enhances the weightiness of Mr. Gnome’s macabre poetry. The moments of calm on the album are merely resting stops for the listener’s ears. Barille’s voice hides in quiet corners whispering with devilish intentions and lashes out at you only when you’ve settled into a comfortable place. Deliver This Creature is the merging of two sounds struggling between darkness and light only to end up straddled contentedly in the chaos of grey.
-- Brigitte B. Zabak [May 19, 2008]
