Vinyl & Vanity Collab: Zeromancer - The Death of Romance

Welcome to my first official Blog post of Vinyl and Vanity, a collaboration that my husband and I do together. He photographs albums from our record collection and posts an in-depth review, while I create a makeup look inspired by his shots. I’d say that 98% of our vinyl collection is his contribution, and thankfully our taste in music is fairly similar in the grand scheme of things.

On Valentine’s Day, we’re sharing Zeromancer’s album, The Death of Romance. Timing, I know.

For context, Zeromancer is one of the bands I most frequently listen to, especially while doing makeup. Sometimes I stay in that particular zone for months. Just ask my hubs. When I work out, their earlier albums like Eurotrash, Clone Your Lover, and Zzyzx are on my 'get your ass moving' playlist. They churn my head with inspiration which is perfect for when I run. Fun Fact: Zeromancer is also dedicated in part to Book 1 of my Chimera Snare dark fantasy novel series*.

The Death of Romance was an album I didn't start listening to until 2020, though it was released in 2010. I found it by the way of their song Mint on a “let's get to know more of Zeromancer” exploration on Pandora. OMFS… that song jabbed me in my guts and was legit on repeat until I got my fill that day, probably close to 20 replays later. Sitting out under a full moon, beer in hand, and just soaking up the sorrowful emptiness, It's my cup of tea when I'm in the process of shedding layers of old grief.

I was ecstatic to find Death of Romance on vinyl, pressed on what's called 'pearl splatter'. This meant my hubs had to spin it for me. He's not a fan of Zeromancer by any means, and it fills me with joy when I get to see the look on his face as their music fills the room.

Did I like all the songs to start? No. I would say the song 'Revengefuck' was probably the song that took the longest for me to digest. The lyrics are a bit cringy and are a mindset I don't relate to on a personal level- even though, yes, music is music, and you don't have to believe in every word to enjoy it. But one day, when I put the album on for my morning drive to work, instead of skipping the song like I normally do, I just let it play through. I've discovered that mornings are the best for me to listen to new music because I'm still docile from sleep. My mind is more receptive to new things, and I have way more patience. Well, to my great surprise, I made it to the end and, dare I say, actually enjoyed it. The more I listened to it, the more I jived with the IDGAF attitude.

I chose to do my look inspired by the model on the front cover, however, I only have one pearl necklace. It's a short and chunky variety that I used for my Pam look, from the show Archer. When I put it on, I felt I looked like a congresswoman meets Tim Curry from Rocky Horror Picture, so I decided to nix it. I've heard that pearls are something that not everyone can pull off, and now I know what that means.

From here, I'm hoping one day to collect the rest of their collection on vinyl, but If my research proves me right at this point, only The Death of Romance was released on that format. Maybe a rerelease of their discography is in order. I'll keep my eye out.

Until next time, Folks. Take care!

*End Notes: The Chimera Snare is a Dark Fantasy novel series that I've been working on for more than a decade. I self-published Book 1, Fragments, in 2015. My now husband joined in the writing, and we are continuing it as a team. Currently, we've completed rewriting Fragments, and it's in the editing phase. We're planning to release it in the summer of 2024.