Rival Cults : " Indoctrination"

It has been a minute since I reviewed any revivalist post-punk, I like that it is more dramatic and crosses over into death rock. The largely capture the sound they are going for , doing so with a great deal of zeal and energy. The question is raised, who are they and what do they have to say. If you are going to compare this California band to Grave Pleasures, they are not as clear cut as the Finnish bands in their mission statement. It is not as apparent until the second song. The vocals are emotive, and croon in the Count Chocula manner you expect from this sort of thing. The guitars are more rocking and give the over all sound a great deal of drive. At times they seem to be trying too hard. 

"Chrome Temple" has more of a punk feel, which is what most of these resort to, though this time around it is more rocked out . Once again the guitarist proves to be the star of this album with the more nuanced playing leading into "Blue Eyed Horse" which has a slightly country tone to the reverbed tremble. The vocals struggle to match the riffs in terms of melodic depth. There is also a hint of the Cure in how it all rings out. "Heraldry" finds them back in a punk direction, while espousing Satanic platitudes . Their singer sometimes drops down into a more spoken gravel that recalls Fields of the Nephilim. "Murder Nation" does a great deal of brooding in this regard without really finding clear cut melodic direction outside of one riff.  

"Erotic Elegy"  finds the moan of the vocals a little on the pitchy side of desperation emoting. More structured than some of their songs, and less catchy than others. They get back into the punk mode as they race into "Armageddon 415 AD". You can also pick up on some of their metal influences here. "Cold Thoughts, Warm Hearts" is a clever title, but it really just kind of drones along while languishing in the Bauhaus like atmosphere. The singer has a niche of what works for his range, and places where actual singing could expand their sound is where he falls short. It results in some cools sounds being collected, but lacking the melodic glue to put them into place. "Devotion" has a more Samhain like riff that slithers around it. The vocals continue to grow on me in the wrong with, as all I can hear are missed opportunities. I do appreciate that this is death rock influence and has balls to the guitars that gives it more kick than most. I will give this an 8 this reason, rather than focusing on where it misses the mark, which it does less .