Evil Blizzard - 'Death Songs And Lullabies' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. ...Off With Their Heads

2. Down Down Down 

3. Black Square

4. Wake The Dead In Bedlam 

5. Questions // Answers 

6. Four Letter Words

7. Hater Creator

8. Warpaint 

The chances are that if you saw a photo of Evil Blizzard or came across a description of them you'd dismiss them without further thought as gimmicky. The self proclaimed worst band in the world has multiple bass players and everyone wears masks. They even had someone who would hold a mop while wearing a butcher's apron. 

You'd be so wrong though. 

Yes, they're all of the above but they are so much more. They take the post punk, add a little psychadelia and season with a pinch of pop. Beloved by the late Mark E Smith of The Fall, the band steer their own sonic course without compromise. 

I first heard them as they released their third album "The Worst Show on Earth" (don't let the title fool you, it's excellent) and was immediately hooked. This year sees them release studio album number five "Death Songs and Lullabies" and if you're curious it's a good time for you to take the plunge.

The eight tracks that comprise the album holds up a mirror to the ugly mess that we see the world in, especially when you're viewing it through an online portal. A spiraling drone sound powered by a percussive drum machine opens 'Off With Their Heads' while the half whispered vocals, half growled hit you with the precision and manner of a dentist's drill. You know how everyone says that Slipknot were disturbing? Evil Blizzard take that and raise the stakes even higher. 

With a guitar sound and riff that could have been prised from the fingers of Killing Joke's Geordie 'Down Down Down' continues intention to pummel you into submission. At times the band wear their influences plainly on their sleeves like the sinister disco of 'Black Square' that draws from band's like Can.

'Wake the Dead in Bedlam' is like wrapping your head in liquid metal while Discharge's vocalist Jeff Janiak adds extra vocals. The psych rock of 'Questions // Answers' sprawls itself across a crumbling Lovecraftian universe. 'Four Letter Words' spits it's lyrics and tempo right in your face without respite, while the PiL sounding 'Hater Creater' stomps you into submission with it's chorus of "You're a monster, you're a monster, you're a monster Frankenstein." 'Warpaint' brings our time with Evil Blizzard to a close. Despite everything that's going on sound wise with the music, there's a lot of space, proving that what you don't play is just as important as what you do. It's trippy guitar and multiple bass parts side down the surface of the Dali-esque wash of sound. 

At times heavy, at times progressive, at times psychedelic, "Death Songs and Lullabies" is an album that manages to be both heavy and ethereal at the same time. To me, they're like the opposite side of the coin to The Cure. There's a shared similarity but their take is heavier, surreal and grim. But man is it good. 

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Review - Scott Hamilton