CHURCH OF MISERY (The Second Coming) CD
A lot of blood was going down the river since Japanese CHURCH OF MISERY had released their last full-length "Master Of Brutality". Their last life-sign "The Boston Strangler", a 12" was to mediocre for my taste and it seems t, as if there was a lack of forceful ideas, and I thought this cats were burned out. But none of my worst expectations came true, and with "The Second Coming" the group strikes back with their brutal Sabbath-drenched doom-driven heavy rock. When I take a look at the song-titles, everything is still the same what means that CoM are still dedicating nearly each track to a more or less famous serial killer and after I felt a bit bored of their concept a few months ago, I really like it how straight they carry on with this.
"The Second Coming" continues where the last full-length stopped and the new singer Hideki was the right choice after the old one left the band. He doesn't sound as brutal as his predecessor, but his lungs are mighty enough to be on top with the rest of the band. And to make his appearence more special he throws in a few psychedelic sounds with an analogue synthe, but the band is still focused on overwhelming heavy riffs.
Yes, H-E-A-V-Y that's what this band is! They breathe and sweat heaviness, and their musical skills are on top. And they have such a crunchy and uber-massive sound that my speakers slowly start to melt or crumble in the ground. Never before the rhythm section was so flexibel, variabel and forceful as on the new album and a good example is the overwhelming opener "I, Motherfucker", devoted to Ted Bundy. CoM are belonging to the very few bands who can cover a song, and it totally sounds as if it was written by them. In this case we find "One Way...Or Another" from the third Cactus album, and this testosterone-powered version is simply more than good.
The album closes with the seventh song "El Topo", an instrumental about a legendary bizarre outlaw movie. But apart of the mentioned songs here are no fillers to find. Once again, CoM have perfectely embodied my definition of 70's-styled Doom and they are better than 90% of their lame comrades. This will be one of my personal 'Top 5' records for 2004! The second coming has been released through Diwphalanx / Leaf Hound Records.
(KK)