2023-06-29 06:00:50
Church Of Misery – Born Under A Mad Sign
Origin: Tokyo / Japan
Release: 16.06.2023
Label: Rise Above Records
Duration: 53:24
Genre: Doom Metal
Church Of Misery were formed in Tokyo in 1995 and see themselves as true visionaries and preservers of the ultimate Doom Metal. Only bassist is from the original line-up Tatsu Mikami left free. Countless musicians have played alongside him over the years. But Tatsu Mikami has understood and sworn one thing: that of Tony Iommi’s guitar driven genre with its deadly and demonic riffs. He himself claims no less than the sole true heir of Black Sabbath to be.
Combine with this Church Of Misery as always the heaviest and blackest riffs with the darkest stories of mankind. The result is so brute and brutal that the scope of Born Under A Mad Sign can hardly grasp at first hearing.
chants of evil
And once more it is the most depraved figures and bloodthirsty stories of human existence that Church Of Misery combine with the rugged, brute riffs. The musical darkness joins the human darkness because, as so often, mass murderers are at the center of the stories.
Church Of Misery are fascinated by the heaviest riffs in the universe and the incredible feats that seemingly normal people are capable of. This theme runs like a red thread through the band’s discography and yet it always amazes you that material for new stories of the perverts under the sun is found.
Whether it makes sense to offer these insane and abnormal people a platform remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the combination of musical and social extremes for a borderline music genre seems to offer itself. Church Of Misery deliberately not picking up on political or social events to depict the atrocities like it Slayer with the controversial descriptions of war crimes in their songs. No, the band is involved Born Under A Mad Sign to the evil individuals and the apparently staid little man.
Killing for the sake of killing
That’s why the album starts with Beltway Sniper a story regarding the sniper John Allen Muhammad, who indiscriminately shot and killed passers-by from his converted van in the USA. Why did he do this? There is no logical explanation for this, except that he belongs to the group of Born Under A Mad Sign heard. The song starts with a news broadcast in which a speaker reports on the crimes and the indiscriminate selection of the victims. What follows is a gigantic reef massacre. The production sounds unpolished and yet brute to the point. The bass trembles, the guitar is distorted to the max and Kazuhiro Asaeda gurgles out the vocals with the bloody deeds.
Perverted tendencies are not a newfangled phenomenon. That’s why the band comes along Most Evil not regarding the story of the German mass murderer Fritz Harmann hereregardings. Riffs with more than clear Black Sabbath Tribute characterize the almost ten-minute wrecking ball. In your mind’s eye you can see the bass and guitar strings jingling. A break clears the space for the guitarist to do some intense solo work Yukito Okazakiwho is actually only a guest musician here and otherwise plays the strings Eternal Elysium distorted.
The story of the serial killer continues Randy Kraft im Song Freeway Madness Boogie. Randy Kraft the murder and brutal torture of 16 men might be proven. The song is fast, rattles properly and can HERE be listened to as representative of the album feeling.
The heavy blues of death
The history of Henry Howard Holmes has also been brought back to consciousness in recent years by a Netflix series. He is considered America’s first serial killer. Despite his brutal deeds, he was a thoroughly polite and courteous person until his execution. In his defense, he claimed in court that he was possessed by Satan. Church Of Misery set him with the bluesy and slowly rising Murder Castle Blues a memorial stone.
The cover version called Spoiler is almost a break in style in the overall context of the record. Probably only wacky freaks know the band’s original Haystacks Balboawhich was published around 1970. Church Of Misery have of course drastically changed the three-minute number in the original. A Hammond organ, also present in the original song, provides a menacing old-style touch. Again there is a rage Yukito Okazaki on the fuzzy guitar, followed by the organ. A doomy, psychedelic hippie song that you won’t want to be without once you’ve enjoyed it.
Seduce, hunt, destroy
The deadly concept of the album also remains. There are always dark stories, only the names of the protagonists change. Not a real murderer in the sense of the stories set to music so far, but a religious seducer David Koresh. He considered himself the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse and really brought ruin to his followers. When the FBI stormed their headquarters in Waco, 76 followers of his cult died because they set fire to their property to destroy them. The song with the cynical title pulls fast and hard Come And Get Me Sucker over.
The final voiced story Butcher Baker is of course once more a stomping number in the best Black Sabbath Tradition. The horrible story is told by Robert Hansen, who abused his victims and took them to the vastness of Alaska in a small plane. There he abandoned his victims, giving them a head start, only to hunt them down like wild animals and leave them dead in the woods. The song drags, contains oppressive samples and brings singers to it all Kazuhiro Asaeda the vocals out in a hoarse voice. A brutal, heavy song regarding an inhuman act.
The album cover is also perfect in the context of the music and the narrated content. It shows the well-groomed and conservative-looking mass murderer Fritz Harmann. The layout resembles the sober book cover of a documentation, which counteracts the atrocities contained therein in an almost cool and factual manner.
Conclusion
Church Of Misery once once more drastically address the dark side of human activity.
It’s hard to believe what brute force and riffs the band brings to the world without having to resort to the element of speed. Born Under A Mad Sign has become one of the heaviest albums ever in all respects. 9 / 10
Line Up
Tatsu Mikami – Bass
Kazuhiro Asaeda – Gesang
Toshiaki Umemura – Schlagzeug
Yukito Okazaki – guitar (guest musician)
Tracklist
01. Beltway Sniper (John Allen Muhammad)
02. Most Evil (Fritz Harmann)
03. Freeway Madness Boogie (Randy Kraft)
04. Murder Castle Blues (H.H. Holmes)
05. Spoiler (Haystacks Balboa Coverversion)
06. Come And Get Me Sucker (David Koresh)
07. Butcher Baker (Robert Hansen)
Links
Webseite Church Of Misery
Facebook Church Of Misery
Also on Soundmagnet.eu
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