Welcome back to #MusicMondays, for which I talk about music that inspires my “Shadowdance” action urban fantasy saga! This week, let’s look at the Birthday Massacre and their song, “Destroyer.”
Who are the Birthday Massacre?
The band that became the Birthday Massacre hails from Canada. They began under the name Imagica in 1999. The name came from a Clive Barker novel (different spelling). I love Barker’s work, so it was inevitable that I’d come to love this band.
The name changed in 2002 to avoid confusion with a death metal band. In contrast, the Birthday Massacre’s music tended toward darkwave with a heavy dose of grinding guitars and Goth vibes. It’d be easy to group them in with the Nu-metal sound of the early 2000s.
As for that name? It came from the title of one of the band’s early songs. That song got retitled as “Happy Birthday.”
Vocalist Sara ‘Chibi’ Taylor, rhythm guitarist Michael Rainbow, and lead guitarist Michael Falcore are the core of the band, being original members who met back in the late 20th century at college.
As a band, they performed live, recording original tracks and self-releasing CDs (remember those?). They inevitably fell into touring, hitting Europe and America. They performed alongside genre stalwarts KMFDM, Celldweller, and Black Veil Brides.
The band also dabbled in the horror world, shooting a video in 2010 for their song, “In the Dark.” Michael Falcore and Rodrigo Gudiño, founder and publisher of Rue Morgue Magazine, directed the video. The video premiered as part of Rue Morgue’s Festival of Fear that year.
The next decade and a half saw the band changing out members while maintaining the trio at its core. Their touring circle expanded as far as Russia. They released two DVDs and ten studio albums. Their latest album, Pathways, dropped in 2025.
How I found the Birthday Massacre
I’m a big In This Moment fan. While listening to them on Spotify, the tracks ran out, and the Autoplay feature pulled up the Birthday Massacre. I can’t remember the first song I heard, but I knew I dug them and wanted to hear more.
A few weeks later, Batman smiled upon me! The band was playing in my town. I went to the show and realized I’d found a new favorite band.
I first heard “Destroyer” at that concert. As I’d just started listening to them, I hadn’t gotten to their album Superstition, which has “Destroyer.”
I remember Shazam-ing the song at the concert so I could track it down. Thankfully, the song must be a staple of their live shows because they played it again for my birthday in 2024 when I saw them in Tampa.
How the Birthday Massacre’s song “Destroyer” inspires the Shadowdance
Making wishes for me. Causing calamity
Lyrics from “Destroyer”
The only solution, abandons me
This is a tragedy. I meet with it gratefully
It’s my execution, and you’re joining me
Ever since 1994’s The Crow, and the Vampire: The Masquerade role-playing game, Goth has been my mood. The darkness, the intrigue, and the sudden outbursts of violence backed by heavy guitars and wailing vocals are my jam.
So, of course, a band like The Birthday Massacre would fall into my wheelhouse. Their music is the perfect backdrop for my “Shadowdance” world, capturing the angst and mood I’m looking for.
Like In This Moment’s “Blood,” “Destroyer” reminds me of my Dominique Dupre character.
She may act all whimsical and psychotic, but within her is that little girl who lost her big sister Adriana so many centuries ago.
Dominique’s mind is clouded with lies told to her by Cytheria, mistress of the sect of female vampire assassins that “adopted” Dominique.
It’s enough to drive a vampire assassin insane and destructive, wanting to bring everything down around her.
The bitch of Dominique’s situation is, how does she get out of it? She thinks the solution is destroying everything, in particular her sister Adriana.
But when she gets the chance to do that very thing, how will she react? Will she, as the song says, “Burn it down?”
Check out Two Sisters, the first novel in my “Shadowdance” action urban fantasy, to find that out!
