Review: Church Of Misery ‘Born Under A Mad Sign’
Japan’s Church Of Misery are bona fide legends at this point in their career, more than 25 years into their serial killer obsessed doom odyssey and yet somehow are able to keep churning out album after album of quality stoner brutality. I mean, the fact that they haven’t run out of inspiration is a fairly miserable indication of the state of the human race but hey, at least the tunes are good. Their new record, Born Under A Mad Sign, is out now through Rise Above Records.
Opener Beltway Sniper (John Allen Muhammed) tells the tale of the 2002 D.C. sniper attacks with an absolutely thunderous, sledgehammer groove. Church Of Misery are often critical of the term ‘stoner doom’, preferring to be just ‘doom’, but the swaggering bluesy riffs they always put down is just asking for you to light up and drift away. The cover art’s subject is the inspiration for the bulldozing Most Evil (Fritz Harmann), and while I’ve spent most of this record reading about heinous pricks on Wikipedia, never am I drawn too far away from the purest Sabbathian riffs on the planet. There really should not be so many soulful boogies on a record inspired by terrible people but man if that Spoiler isn’t one of the grooviest things I’ve ever heard.
That propulsive bass rocking from about 5:15 in Murder Castle Blues (H.H. Holmes) gives me some serious Motörhead vibes too, but classic Sabbath is still the main shadow cast. They may not like the ‘stoner’ term, but since they take much from Sabbath’s smokiest record Master Of Reality, they can’t get too mad either. ‘Butcher Baker’ (Robert Hansen) is probably the heaviest track here, a rumbling doomy lumber through some great Cathedral-esque riffs and a serpentine solo that is a highlight amongst many great lead guitar moments.
Whether you are looking for a slower, crushing rumble or an upbeat bluesy groovy earworm, you’ll find it right here…
Riff lord Tatsu Mikami has really outdone himself on this record, with every track taking an almost evangelical worship of THE RIFF. Whether you are looking for a slower, crushing rumble or an upbeat bluesy groovy earworm, you’ll find it right here. It’s been a long seven years since Church Of Misery‘s last record but that time feels like nothing when these titanic doom riffs arrive. Their legacy is complete at this point as one of the world’s best doom bands when in full stride.
Church Of Misery‘s music has never necessarily challenged genre archetypes, nor has it sought to. At this point, Born Under A Mad Sign is more of an educational piece, reminding us about the evils of the human race through the power of groovy, bluesy doom brutality. They’ve been making great records for so long now that we may be able to grant them the honour of being Sabbath’s true heirs. Certainly, they’ve got a shout. This is brilliant.
Label: Rise Above Records
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Scribed by: Sandy Williamson
