Sorry for the gap in posting my little Maggots, been busy as of late. Regardless let us continue our journey into the darkest corners of music with tonight's juicy morsel. I give you the album that pretty much laid down the guidelines for any and all Death Rock to follow. Regardless of what you think of Christian Death in their later years, little can argue the fact that this album captures the Death Rock feel and attitude to a T. You'll find both slow, menacing gothic ballads and plenty of mid-paced Death Rock riffs to get those dead bodies moving on the dance floor. The sound on this album is altogether mournful, painful, and oh so wonderfully depressive. Front man Rozz Williams is a god amoung the gothic sub-culture and on this album one can hear why so many revere him so much. His vocals are both crooning and downright borderline whiny but, amazingly, the man makes this work perfectly. The lyrics on this album are mainly anti-religious, but if you know anything about his upbringing, this comes as no surprise as this album was basically a response and rebellion to his parents religious ways. Yet, instead of sounding like some fifteen-year old basement virgin who hates his parents, Rozz's despairing vocals comes off as naturally as a man who is truly, deeply depressed and alone. He seems to let his emotions guide the flow of his voice rather than try and match it to the progression of say the bass or guitars, adding another layer of eerie atmosphere. Now that isen't to say that either of those departments (and drums for that matter) are laking, far from it. The drummer, George Belange, dose a great job of bringing both a fusion of punk rock and a bit of tribal style playing to the record, while Bassist James McGearty does Peter Hook proud by filling the album with melancholic yet catchy as hell bass riffs (Romeo's Distress is a perfect example). And then theres the guitars, done by none other than punk legend Rikk Agnew. If that name means nothing to you then I'll sit here and wait while you pop in the Adolescents' blue album and the first two D.I. albums.
Back? Good. Now we can continue with everyone on the same page.
The guitars on this album are exactly what goth guitars should be. Complimentary but not over-bearing but also not so ambient that it simply sounds as if someone is plucking single notes far in the back ground. Mr. Agnew definitely has the right feel for what he is doing, and it shows. Bringing his past punk experience to the table, Rikk bangs out Simple, eerie chords that ring out over a creepy, almost surf style distortion. They are solos, but they do nothing but add to the album as they are very tastefully done and are not drawn out in some attempt to show off the guitarist. The main ingredient on this album is undeniably the voice of Rozz but the band itself makes a perfect gothic soundtrack to show it off. Pick this up, burn a black candle and be prepared to bleed a bit for the grandaddy of death rock albums.
Mysterium Iniquitatis
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