Old Spirit : 's/t"

This might be this project's debut album, bt it is helmed by Jason Hartman' and from the first song it seems like it is going to be his tribute to Mercyful Fate. Hartman who has played in both Jex Thoth and Vanishing Kids is a very capable musician. King Diamond is one of my favorite singers so if I hear you aspiring to follow in his shoes and seem to be doing it even half as well, then I am going to be impressed. This is more impressive than the other album called Nit Eyez that I was reviewing until I stumbled across this. Not as tightly written as Mercyful Fate, but really for the time they came from who was aside from Iron Maiden and Preist. It sounds like there is more of a Celtic Frost thing going on with the second song as the falsetto vocals are tradeoff for something perhaps less grunting than Tom Warrior but phrased in a similar manner.

The dark and trippy sounds of "Feel the Stars" are more like Psychic TV, but yet again those are some impressive footsteps to follow if you have made an album that draws comparisons to both Psychic TV and Mercyful Fate.  There is more of a jammy feel to this song, but i works for what is going down here and has some more aggressive punches in places. "Catastrophe" brings back the harder rocking though it is less focused and structured as a song, the one 70s style riff is pretty head banging, but some of the solos are over the top and not needed. "Seasons" pretty much keeps the mood going that was established in the previous song but gives the vocals room to be creepier. Not the best produced album you are going to hear all year as it is rather lofi and sounds at times like it could have been recorded at band practice. 

Then lean back in more of a Mercyful Fate direction for the last song. The falsetto vocals are not as polished here, though they are mixed different and less shrouded in reverb. There is more weird ambiance to is and thiungs are more experimental. The solos continue to be haphazrd and random, and drums fall way back in the mix.  I will however round this up to a 9, as I like all the sound and can hear what a diamond in the rough this is.