Theurgist: "All of them Lowly Creatures"

Just when I thought I was done with all the Siouxsie impersonators. Zola Jesus has grown beyond that and  the last album Arctic Flowers released was disappointing  and then  I stumble across this band from Philly. They are creepier and less punk rock than Arctic Flowers , I suppose closer to the zip code Savages lives in. Though with the lead singers name being Amaris Mortis, which sounds like a black metal band, the are heading into the darkness with full intentions.

It's when the band drops down to a slower pace on "Verdugo" that they find their own identity . This also allows Mortis to flex her pipes, though in a more Switch Blade Symphony direction. It picks up again for "Lizzie Boredom" but the tempo varies during the song even though the bulk of the song is the more upbeat punk like vibe. The punk vibe often causes the songs to fly by in a boring blur, "Ill Heaven" falls prey to this where as the slower paced and more deliberate "Love Lies Bleeding" finds ways to be more unique in the vocal melody and the guitar hook.

The album's main weakness is not the punk vibes, but the poor production. The bass is also to low in the mix, it should be one of the driving factors in death rock. This does one hand prevent them from sounding like other death rock bands, but the album doesn't feel as dark and lacks those low end balls. Even with this going against them they are still darker than Arctic Flowers.

"Endor Voice" takes more of a Cure vibe , if you are thinking "Kiss me, Kiss me, Kiss me"  era with a slight "Silent Hedges " touch to the guitar. The bass comes out of hiding on this one. Overall this song is the most impressive on the album as it creates a sound that is justly dark , but original even when their influences are riding their black sleeves.

These guys and ghouls have a lot of potential and I want to hear more from them in the future. I'll around this one up to an 8.5, would like to hear what they could do with the type of production and time that was put into Beastmilk's last album. If you are a fan of horror punk, goth or post-rock..whatever name you want to put on the stuff coming out of the bat cave these days then this is worth a listen.

Check out their Bandcamp page, they are letting you name your price on their new one.
http://theurgist.bandcamp.com/