Gothtober - Wednesday 13 : "Necrophaze"

These guys are picking up where they left with the Murder Dolls. In some places they take on a more Rob Zombie like sound , but over all they are gritty take on goth metal that sounds like it could have crawled out of the best places from the 90s.  Alice Cooper lends his voice to narrate the intro of the title track. Christine from Lacuna Coil also shows up on "Monster".  Her voice sits behind Wednesday's in the mix. He is more attitude than than pipes. He carries a lot of grit , but manages to hold a melody. He knows where to put his voice though and that speaks a great deal to what what works in terms of the song writing on this album. I just got finished reviewing the new 69 Eyes before I hit this album and how phrashing can work to sell lyrics, though the lyrics on this album are superior to the 69 eyes by a long shot. The are way more fun. 

"Decompose" is more metallic and finds him singing in a higher almost Blackie Lawless like voice.  This influence is not unfounded as the last song on the album is a cover of "Fuck Like A Beast"> The main riff is pretty bad ass . The double bass heavy "the Hearse" doesn't strike me as being quite as inspired as the previous songs. "Tie Me a Noose" is marginally better  due to the groove. This also makes me think Static X jamming with W.A.S.P.The melodic touches around the guitar to "Life Will Kill Us All" is more interesting and it works with more rock n roll vocals .  The chorus is almost cock rock, but I am fine with that . This is more straight forward than the others songs, but works together well. There is more of a punk feel to "Bury the Hatchet". 

Alexi from Children of Bodom joind him on on the cover of "Fuck Like  Beast ".  It is such an awesome it is hard to go wrong with it. They do a pretty good job with it as well.  This album was a lot of fun I will round it up to a 9. It's a perfect album for this time of year. 

Dope : " Blood Money pt 1"

I used to the like the song "Bitch", I know one of the girls in the video and that was my first exposure to this band back in the early 2000s. Acey Slade who plays bass for Joan Jett as well as Murderdolls backs Edsel, along with Lords of Acid guitarist Virus and long time drummer Racci Shay. They come on stronger with a blend of industrial strength hard rock that could have rolled out of the best moments of 1997.Edsel sings more on this album that the more nu-metal liking shouting I recall from other songs like "Bitch". They back off into the darker "Lexapro" that is really more of an interlude than a song. This is a shame because I find it more compelling than the run of the mill metal of "Hold On " that feels like a Bullet For My Valentine b-side. Granted these guys are going for a more mainstream take on metal than what I normally listen to.

The blast at you with a more militant bulldozing typical of post- 90s industrial, ironically the lyrics of the chorus are "I never though I'd be alive after 1999". The  vocals go into a higher auto-tuned sounding emo on "Razor Blade Butterfly " that sounds like the might be trying to bring back the more sugar coated ghost of H.I.M. It's hook and well crafted cheese. "Drug Music" reminds me of Strapping Young Lad's more restrained moments. They put on more of a tough guy act for the Static X like "Hypocrite". "X-Hale" turns down another dark corner, but this too is another interlude. There is more of a 30 Seconds to Mars feel to "End of the World". Sure there is more of machine like bump and grind to it, but the way the melodies are handled seem like something Jared Leto would do. So Edsel has become a much better singer over the years.

"Selfish" has more of a groove to it though the riff re-hashes a great deal of 90s metal. The auto-tuned vocals to "Numb" remind me of Weird Al. The song itself is pretty decent. Over al despite sticking to the conventions of modern radio rock and coming across as more accessible than what I have heard from these guys in the past, this album is pretty decent for what it is. I'll give it a 8.