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THE LURKING CORPSES :
23 TALES OF TERROR

I have not had a CD put a smile on my face this fast in a long time. Sure, other discs have been just as good, but on an instant gratification level, "23 Tales Of Terror" is gonna be damn hard to beat! These costumed, horror-happy rockers are obviously devotees of the Misfits/Danzig style of old-school Horror-Punk. However, they also have an extra element in their arsenal, namely, the ability do bring out their "inner Heavy Metal child" when needing something just a bit heavier in their sound. Indeed, some songs (or passages) are actually full-on, ultra-underground, guttural Death-Metal! But things always seem to have a way of returning to a Danzig-esque vocal delivery over sing along choruses the likes of which neither Jerry Only nor Danzig himself, have been able to come up with in eons. Of course, what some see as a strength (the melding of sub-genres) others will see as a weakness. Kids that just like Punk, or others that just listen to Cannibal Corpse, are going to find it hard to appreciate what's on the other side of the musical coin. Those of us that have mountains of both Death-Metal and horror-themed Punk piled up on our CD racks will be able to embrace this with open arms. Keeping in character, we have some wonderfully inventive cheesy stage names and credits; "Lord Vladimir Von Ghoul" - Corpse Defilement and Gut Munching, "Count Lupos Lycanthrope the Mad" - Axe Wielding Full Moon Massacre, "Baron Boneripper of the Hills" - Eerie Undertonal Chainsaw Dismemberment, and last but not least, "The Leper" - Diseased Beatings and Torture Chamber Assault. The songs are short, always catchy, and I think almost every one has an old movie sample at the beginning. This is just what we've been waiting for. If this disc came out under either the Misfits of Danzig banners, long time fans (which I am one of) would be short-strokin' it from here to kingdom come! If only we could cut & paste these little ditties over the unimaginative dribble found on Danzig's latest disc, "Circle Of Shit"... oops, I mean "Circle Of Snakes". For more info on this hauntingly good band, check 'em out on myspace.
RATING = 8.5 Horror-Punk with a dash o' Death-Metal (Released 2003)

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THE LURKING CORPSES :
SMELLS LIKE THE DEAD

Ok boils and ghouls, I'm back for another review. Yes, yes, I know I don't do this much any more, but when someone named "Lord Vladimir Von Ghoul" asks you to give your opinion on his band's new CD, you just do it, no questions asked! This is disc number three for the group. "23 Tales of Terror" dropped back in '03 (see review above), and "Lust for Blood" came to haunt our nightmares in '06 (I never officially reviewed this one, but I have it, and can tell you that it rocks like the undead bastard child of Glenn Danzig and John Tardy hopped up on goof-balls!) So, this all brings us to the new platter o' plastic splatter. Thankfully, I can tell you things have not changed much. The band still has a full-blown identity crisis. Within mere minutes (sometimes even seconds), the band will go all "Sybil" on your ass, bringing forth their Misfits/Danzig personality, their not quite Death-Metal persona, and even their "Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers-esque" Doo-Wop traits. Now, I don't know if I'd wanna hang out with anyone this mixed up in the head, but as a band, they somehow manage to make it all work. In fact, it seems to all flow together a bit easier on this new outing when compared to the past discs. The Punk to Metal change overs felt a lot more jarring on "23 Tales", maybe it's just because I'm expecting it now, but I think its due to that, and the fact that the band are just more comfortable wearing their various musical hats. The songs here are all pretty darn catchy, picking favourites is like trying to pick your favourite bourbon whisky, they're all pretty damn good, and will achieve the desired results. However, if ya need some touch points, I say just check out the first two tracks, the metallic "Party Time At Zombie High" and the Horror-Punkish "Call On The Dead". If these don't rock ya, (which is not really possible) you need not venture any further. I only have one little, teeny complaint with the disc over all, and that is the number of songs, and the running time. The first two disks had 23 and 20 songs respectively, and clocked in at just under an hour. "Smells Like The Dead" clocks in at only 37 minutes and change, and only has 12 tracks, two of which are acoustic (not that there's anything wrong with that), and another, "Sweet Lycanthropy", is a re-recording (originally on 23 Tales). Of course, a short record does not mean a bad record, Slayer proved that to us all back in '86, but I'm a greedy little bastard, and when I have something I like, I want more. Anyway, if your music collection is filled with Danzig related bands and discs from the likes of Obituary and Denial Fiend, then you'd be daft (to say the least) for not picking this up. As a side note, the cover art is great. My 5 and 6 year old boys got a hold of it and had a 30 minute discussion on which zombie was their favourite. . . I think the "guy with the gross bulging eye" emerged victorious.
RATING = 8 Horror-Punk with a dash o' Death-Metal (Released 2008)

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"Greatest hits albums are for housewives and little girls."
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