'Gothtober - Exhuming the Tunes with Christian Death's"American Inquistion"

 

The 13th album that was released in 2007, is what I think of as the modern era of the band, though this one is still more industrial-leaning; they turn toward goth more on the two albums after this, which I have already reviewed for this blog, so this review is going to be the last installment of this series. There is a great deal of a build on thiss first song. They have also turned more towards politics here. "Stop Bleeding On Me"  is more metal, and this album was released on Season of Mist, so maybe they felt this direction was needed. Valor's croon sounds great, so it works for me. His melodies might not be as smooth as his early work with the band, but it works for the more rock direction here. The political things is not constant, as by the second he is back pondering about the devil. 

"Narcissus..." is equal parts driving and brooding on the verses, and the chorus fits but doesn't blow me away, but it's not a deal breaker either. "Victim x" works more off  an electronic-based industrial throb. It doesn't, but there is a cool riff that comes in to break things up. "To Disappear" benefits from a cool bass line that makes things creepier. This is contrasted by the more metallic burst of a chorus. Thematically, the theme shifts to drugs, and things get more melodic and less metal, which works too. "Seduction thy Destruction" is mainly focused on his loungy croon, not the strongest song, as they are much more interested in the exotic Middle Eastern feel of " Worship Along the Nile". It's like a moderately more metal version of Lords of Acid meets Dead Can Dance. 

"See You in Hell" is not a cover of Grim Reaper. It is gothier than the bulk of the album so far. Surprisingly less metal given the title. They even use restraint on a song called "Surviving Armageddon," which sounds like it would be metal as well, but it is the most death rock thing so far. They do bring back some more metallic guitars for "The Last Thing". It has more of an Alice in Chains grunge feel than what I have heard from them before. The last track is Alex Jones ranting over a collage of noise they woven together.I will round this one up to a 10 the modern era is under rated.  

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