Doe eyed beauty, Heather, is the front woman who caresses our ears with lyrics that are at once seductive and then fiery. She can deftly pull you in then hurl you out into the stratosphere with the drive and energy that comes from each note in her blessed tiny throat. Her range can go from seductive kitten to fiery dragon in a split second, which often surprises and delights those who hear the band for the first time.

Now recently signed to the Nuclear Blast label, they are not hurting for work by any stretch of the imagination. Wherever they play, they sell out the venue and pack them in until it is standing room only which includes the tops of the tables if necessary. Their fans are legion and loyal from one state to the next and is growing faster than a virus in an enclosed space.

Tapping The Vein stretches each range of tragic emotion on every recording and delivers it without wallowing in murky pity party type of sounds. The rock is edgy yet danceable. The lyrics are poetic and painful, and the vocalist is a true Diva if ever there was one. Having had the good fortune to watch this band play live, it is uncanny how Heather imbibes the character for each song and delivers a new persona with each one. She does not utilize flashy costume and makeup changes. In the blink of the eye, she pulls some inner switch to become one with the song. The skill with which she accomplishes this makes you *think* there was a scene and costume change.

The four members that make up this band demonstrate a tightly knit camaraderie where each will work off the others energy in order to involve the audience. Whether you hear them on CD or see them live, you are immersed for a time into their world and truly will come away grateful for the experience of such deft musicianship. It is only a matter of time before this band is a major phenomenon.


Never Trust Another Person's Opinion on Music   February 1, 2005
 10 out of 26 found this review helpful

This is some overproduced, soulless candy pop pretending to be angsty. If you are a parent, and you want to keep your 8 year old from listening to Tool, you could distract them for a while with this. It's safe.

It also is not very good. It's quite bad. But, I'm not into bands that sound like the Spice Girls, so if you are, you might like this.

I found this band since I like Garbage, and, har har, this band is supposed to be like them. No, not by a long shot.


What was Nuclear Blast thinking???   August 21, 2003
 9 out of 31 found this review helpful

Beautiful gothic music... this??? Don't make me laugh. Where are the guitars? You only get a few seconds worth of guitar in any given song. The rest is just boring, repetitive mellow music that would put you to sleep if not for Heather's painfully horrible vocals. I just can't understand why a great label like Nuclear Blast would sign such a lackluster artist to their artist roster. It's not gothic, it's not metal, and it sure as hell is not beautiful. And why all the freaking programming? Use guitars, people! They were created so that humans could create music that has more complexity than what rapper apes can produce. In short, this is a Mariah Carey album with sporadic electric guitars.