Acclaimed English gothic veterans Attrition have released their first album of brand new material in three years. The Jeopardy Maze is a return to gothic-dance music after reworking older tracks into classical and ethereal pieces on their 1997 release Étude.

    Leading Attrition for the past fifteen plus years is vocalist and programmer Martin Bowes. He's accompanied by vocalist Julia Waller, violaist Franck Dematteis, and a handful of guest performers.

    Bowes' lyrics are rich with passion and poetics. His musical compositions are at times somber classical orchestrations, only to be contrasted by dark but up-beat dance numbers. The term gothic disco comes to mind. Some of Attrition's music can be the more classical-influenced gothic artists like Faith and the Muse and Projekt labelmates Black Tape for a Blue Girl and Steve Roach. But a great deal of it might be more easily categorized with darkwave in the vein of God's Girlfriend, The Azoic, or Collide. At intervals on The Jeopardy Maze, Attrition even indulges in Thrill Kill Kult-like pop-industrial. Much of the The Jeopardy Maze is vibrant and articulate as one would expect from the Projekt label. But on the other hand, much of it is also overly melodramatic and dirivitive. Martin Bowes has long ago proven himself a talented musician, but due to its inconsistancy The Jeopardy Maze is not among Attrition's best works.