If
Björk suffered a catastrophic throat injury, crossed over to the dark side of dance-pop, and started making gothic/industrial metal, she would probably sound like
Nocturne's Lacey Conner. On their sophomore Triple-X release,
Welcome to Paradise, Conner and her bandmates (guitarist/programmer Chris Telkes, bassist Ivan McRoy, and drummer Sara Lee Lucas) fail to demonstrate mastery of their genre, but they do make considerable strides. Synths and sequencers are put to good use on cuts like "Vortex," while Lucas and Telkes kick out impressive riffs on more metallic numbers like "The Final Hour." It all adds up to a considerable improvement over the group's 1999 debut,
Twilight. While there isn't enough good material to impress listeners who don't have a taste for this kind of music, those who already enjoy aggressive industrial/goth will surely appreciate the accomplishments of
Welcome to Paradise. ~ Vincent Jeffries