Wailin Storms :"Shiver"

This is a re-release as the new album from this Texas born band is entitled "One Foot in the Flesh Grave" is coming out in time for Halloween this fall. My first thought was ok this is going to be like King Dude and there are similar elements in certain places, but generally has more of a Danzig like drive to it. There is punk influence , but they have a wider range of dynamics than punk bands generally do. There is more of a temper tantrum to the opening of "Which Way to the Grave" that had a good deal of sonic power to its pound. "Shiver, Shiver, Shiver" feels like it fell out of the previous song and throbs of the raging build for so long that it drones in right past me and I lost track what song I was on. The singer retains a similar Samhain era Danzig roar. He lets his voice crack into a scream more than he croons.

"Viking Funereal" has more of a western ambiance in its saunter. The vocals sit back in the mix and are more sung than the more shouted delivery that dominated the first half o the album. This is a smart move on their part as it helps  this song to stand out. There is still a dense wall of sound echoing off each instrument when they converge upon one another. The guitar stands out more when you can hear the notes rather than just feel them as a vibration. I like the break down before the four minute make. There is a more of a sing song cadence to "Superstitious" that recalls more Misfits era Danzig as it is armed with that hooky sense for punchy melody. The music behind it has more of a boozy blues power to it.


After a while I realized this album has been on for an hour or so and though I could not tell the difference between many of the songs , what they were doing works so I think with a full length I am going to be interested in hearing how they can keep things varied enough to support more songs and what melodic elements will be injected into this .But for what we have now I'll give this one a 8.5. Fans of Danzig flavored punk should check this out.