Christian Death, American Gothic Rock pioneers, are back among us.
Created in 1979, the band announces in 2022 its seventeenth album. The story of the band wasn’t easy, but Valor (vocals/guitar/violin/keyboards), Maitri (vocals/bass) and Pao (drums) are ready for this new chapter with Season of Mist.
They’re accompanied on stage by Chuck Lenihan (Chains).
The album begins with The Alpha and the Omega, a dark and foggy song which places expressive voices on a groovy and weighing cloud, which sometimes have an abrasive and effective saturation. The song stays quite simple and haunting, then New Messiah offers us a mesmerizing and mysterious sound full of regular strikes, but the blending can be threatening when needed. The horrific tones come to oppress us before letting Elegant Sleeping bring some Stoner influences to this hooking sound, dominated by female vocals. An unhealthy energy surfaces from the rhythmic, feeding this aggressive fastness which lets place to a weighing final, then to the quiet and gloomy Blood Moon. The alliance of those two voices and dissonance create an unusual atmosphere which will be followed by Abraxas We Are and its very cold sonorities. We feel the rhythmic progressing until it becomes majestic, then it ends before The Warning presents us a worrying introductive sample. The sound slowly moves forward then it will be rhythmed by the ghostly apparition of a low voice, which makes us sail between energetic mysterious parts and waves of saturation with psychedelic accents thanks to the appearance of Chuck Lenihan. Beautiful seems to reconnect with a mild quietness and some chimes before a soaring rhythmic comes next, accompanied by some dark orchestrations and very demonstrative vocals. The theatrical sound is followed by Rise and Shine, a more worrying and experimental composition, mainly on the different voices which relay one another and dance together, just like Evil Becomes Rule, the eponymous track, which unveils noisy harrowing influences. The vocalists in the background and the burdening whispers finally let place to Who Am I (part 1), a hooking and very soaring track which allows both voices a very defined role. The song passes fast, and it closes up on Who Am I (part 2), an outro on which the voice of KWA-B ends the album with a cold metallic sound.
The ice-cold universe of Christian Death doesn’t get old, and continues its path through strange and dark sonorities. If Evil Becomes Rule is your first contact with the band, you will be surprised by its oddity, but if you’re already used to it, you can only enjoy its daring.
85/100