Church of Misery : "Born Under a Mad Sign"

Japan's serial killer themed doom band is back with more Sabbath worship at least when it comes to riffs. The yowling of the vocals helps to give them more of their own identity on the opening track. "Most Evil" finds the vocals taking on more of a throaty snarl. They keep things at a fuzzed out shuffle, which is effective for this song, but hope the dynamics are kept in mind as the album progresses. The vocals are getting switched up so that certainly helps. "Freeway Madness Boogie" the pace picks up, before the wah wah pedal gets stomped down upon. This more rock n roll feel does change gears from the Sabbath like dirges they were locked into, but not something I am into as much. They are still highly skilled at rocking out, I just want things to move in a darker direction since we are dealing with serial killers here. 

We start getting to some of my favorite fiends on "Murder Castle Blues" where things turn toward HH Holmes. The vocals sit back further into the wall of guitars here. "Spoiler" is more of a boogie which is also the first song that feels more like filler and the keyboards come up in the mix. "Come  and Get  Me Sucker" is an ode to David Koresh, who is not a serial killer but I guess cult leaders are getting lumped in 

with other misanthropic outsiders who lash out, as Koresh was not going to take any shit, much like this song that rumbles on more like Motorhead than Sabbath.

"Butcher Baker" has a Cathedral like lumber that gains momentum as the song cranks on. I will give this album a 9, as it finds the band once again in fine form and doing what they do with sinister vigor. The vocal performance seems to have improved this time around., there is a raw desperation to the singer's howl. If you want doom that has boogie in it's desert baked crust, then this is the album for you. If you like serial killers then even better.