CHURCH OF MISERY (The Boston Strangler) 12"-EP
Japanese serial killer worshippers CHURCH OF MISERY are finally back, after some time went by since their massive "Master Of Brutality" album came out. This vinyl-only release, put out by Finnish Kult Of Nihilow comes in an impressive gatefold sleeve, portraying the main character of this release, namely Albert DeSalvo, a.k.a. "The Boston Strangler". The cover says, that there's 3 songs featured on the studio side, as well as one long improvisational tune called "Invocation To My Demon Brother", making up the "live" side alone. Either I'm too silly, or I just didn't get the joke, but my "studio" side just features 2 songs!? Anyway, these 2 songs are in the usual CHURCH OF MISERY vein, meaning early Black Sabbath worship to the fullest with the typical sombre lyrics, dealing with serial killers.
Quality-wise, it's up to the standard of this Japanese Doom tank, though I'm somehow afraid, that they're a little trapped within their style by now, especially when thinking of future recordings. Concerning the improvised live song on the reverse side, I have to admit, that it gets tedious after a few minutes and eventually it bores the shit out of me. I guess you have to take certain substances to fully appreciate that track. Having a playting-time of around 40 minutes, this is undoubtedly a quite long EP, and besides that, I don't see any reason not to pick up this beautifully packaged, precious vinyl containing 2 new great songs by one of Japan's finest acts, as well as an odd live track, no one forces you to play unless you feel like taking medication or something likewise I suppose. To place your order write to:
and visit the CHURCH OF MISERY website.(Opolus XXXVIII AS)