Salome's Dance: "S/t"

So lets see how they do with death rock in Russia. From the opening song it sounds like production is a challenge , but they have all the other ingredients. This came out around Halloween, so we didn't miss the boat on this one by much. The strong points about this is the singer can emote like Rozz Williams without being a total imitation and these guys don't over do the punk angle. Ten songs is a lot from one of these sort of bands, so can they keep all the bats in the air for the duration will be interesting to see.

"Wait" doesn't have as much gusto as the opener. So the skepticism begins. The chorus is more punk and sounds more like a refrain.The singer's voice takes on a slight Jello Biafra waver. Things get back on a gloomier track, while still retaining the Dead Kennedys element on " Cyhret". These guys can pack a punch, without getting too metal, which is surprising for me to say considering how much I like Atriarch...and this is mainly a metal blog, but I don't think that would work as well for this band. The tribal drone of "Ragnarok" has an angular pound to it. They find their feet best when exploring the darkside of the moon on "Moon" that has a decidedly more Christian Death slant to it. The single note riff does tend to over drone on itself, but even Rozz and the boys could get carried away with that sort of thing if the right drugs were involved. At times at the mid -point the machine starts to collapse, the disjointed "Machine" being one whose drone is not as compelling.

They do explore their more feral punk side on "Spectacle" . This descends into a deliberate pound, where the guitar wanders like a drunken ghost. The vocals punch themselves into the right places to hold the song together. They give into their anger on"August".The raw attack is really only off set by their guitar tone. "Key" find the surreal chanted vocals dancing around the dark disjointed guitar with elegant grace. The bass roughs things up as the drums fall back into a more punk pace.They close out the album with "Lilith" which carries an almost Alaric like heft to it's pound. They take an interesting plunge into darkness on the melodic middle section that has a tribal drone not unlike the Rape Blossums album I reviewed earlier today. The pace picks up and flexes some dynamic muscle that really ends the album strong.

There were a few shaky moments in the albums middle section, but overall I'm more impressed with these guys than I have been the bulk of bands calling themselves death rock this year. I will give this one an 8 and imagine it will grow on me with more listens.