REVIEW: Mr.Underhill - The World Through X-Ray Eyes

Cast your mind back to 2002;  George W Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act, we saw the first official release of the Mozilla Firefox browser (suck it Internet Explorer!) and The Lord of The Rings – The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Star Wars II – Attack of the Clones dominated the box office. It was also the year that Vancouver vamp-rock band Mr.Underhill (made up of the three Kirkham brothers – Chris, Robbie and Anthony) were due to release their 4th album. This didn't happen however, as the band split up and two new acts were born – Chris Kirkham became Nim Vind and Robbie Kirkham formed The Vincent Black Shadow.

Fast forward to late 2013 and Mr.Underhill's lost album The World Through X-Ray Eyes is finally given a proper release, now available digitally and on vinyl in extremely limited quantities featuring 13 tracks of the band's trademark vampire punk rock. Listening to it through, it is clear that the record was unfinished, but the rawness of the production adds an edge to the songs that further studio refinements may have eliminated. "5000 Fingers of Dr.T" features 50's pop harmonies and lifts a guitar riff straight from D Generation's "No Way Out" whilst "My Middle Eye" and "Pistol Whipped and Bloody Lipped" see the band exploring a more subdued rockabilly/flamenco guitar style a la Tiger Army.

The band are at their best when songs are played fast, kept short, and there is less opportunity for the vocals to warble uncontrollably and this is the case on both "The Grange" and "The Crush". The one negative I can pick out is that Chris' vocals are all over the place and something he has addressed with his solo work.

Whilst it is great that The World Through X-Ray Eyes has finally seen the light of day, the reality is that the music subsequently created by the bands it itself spawned, make this record sound dated by comparison. One for the completists only I'm afraid.

Rating: 6/10 skulls

Available on vinyl(sold-out)/digital:
https://www.facebook.com/mrunderhilmusicl


Reviewed by Steven Farkas

REVIEW: Frank Ilfman - Big Bad Wolves (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

When first asked to review the soundtrack for the recently released Israeli thriller, Big Bad Wolves, I was expecting a traditional compilation record with the usual contributions from horror-themed bands, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. This is actually the classical score to the film, taking what I thought would be a pretty simple review to a whole new experience. Listening to something that has been created to work with visuals, but without the plot of the film to follow is difficult - it’s a bit listening to an audiobook in a different language; you can sense when the pace quickens, or something dramatic happens, but you don’t really have any idea what is really happening.

All that said, the music compositions are very slick and impressive and (I imagine) work seamlessly alongside the film. As you’d expected, they are all orchestral pieces of varying pace (depending on the atmosphere being created), with strings playing a very prominent role. This is especially noticeable in those sections where drama is building, as in The Chair of Horror as well as in The Chase, where percussion adds an even more thrilling element.

I have to admit after numerous listens, I begin to appreciate the monumental amount of work that goes in to creating a collection of music that can tell its own story and also work in the separate context of enhancing a visual experience. The meticulous level of detail that composer Frank Ilfman has shown is truly impressive, and whilst this was not what I was expecting to review, it was a pleasant experience nonetheless.

Rating: 7/10 skulls


Available on CD/digital from:
http://moviescoremedia.com/big-bad-wolves-frank-ilfman/

Reviewed by Steven Farkas

REVIEW: Little Miss Stakes - Monster Party Hits

Have you ever been stuck at a really dull Halloween party and sat imagining a much cooler one in your head? Oh. Well I have and this would be the soundtrack to it.

Monster Party Hits is a four track collection that 45 Grave would be proud of. Sounding like monsters have raided an episode of Top of the Pops, this release comes complete with catchy as hell hooks, fifties and sixties style backing vocals and riffs that just scream for the air guitar to come out. I defy anyone to not have a good time with this record.

Opening track "Killer Klowns From Outer Space" – taking its name from the 1988 Chido Brother's cult classic – makes me wish this record had been released in time for the film's release. It would genuinely serve as a much better theme tune than the the Dickies' classic did.

"The Ghoul Next Door" and "Mina" are perfect pop tunes guaranteed to get even the dead dancing in their graves.

"Drag Queen Dracula" is a much more vicious affair. Vocalist Mick Van Dyke spits the lyrics out like the angriest monster you've ever heard in your life. Sounding at times like a really pissed off version of 45 Grave's Dinah Cancer, at others like a possessed version of a fifties pop singer, Mick offers a truly exciting and fun alternative to the Glenn Danzig-clones horror rock is so often littered with.

I don't know whose bed Little Miss Stakes have been hiding under, but I'm glad they've unleashed themselves on we puny humans!

Five screams out of five!

Available from:
http://littlemissstakes.bandcamp.com

Reviewed by Ben Smith

REVIEW: There's No Escape From Governer Grimm and the Ghastly Ghouls

Governor Grimm and the Ghastly Ghouls - There's No Escape From..., the debut EP from Ohio based horrorbilly band Governor Grimm and the Ghastly Ghouls, is an impressive first-outing, featuring five original songs. In an already crowded genre they don't add anything particularly new to the mix, but what they do offer is a high level of musicianship and solid songwriting.

The lyrical themes are as expected for the genre, but the stories they tell are well constructed and don't feel forced in any way. The balance between simplicity and storytelling is perfectly struck and the music itself is the same; cool guitar riffs, pounding bass lines and excellent use of the moog, which is easy to overdo in this genre. "Raise the Dead" and "I've Seen Myself Die" are stand out tracks, especially the former which features a seriously awesome guitar lick and verses that almost forcibly drag you up to stomp and clap along. The rest of the tunes are certainly solid, if not a bit forgettable.
Quality vocals are another area where many horror/psychobilly bands are found lacking, and I'm pleased to report that this is definitely not the case with GG & The GGs. James Madison follows the Glenn Danzig school of vocals, but that's no bad thing– his vocals really elevate this band above the pack.

7/10 Skulls


Available on CD/digital from:
http://governorgrimmandtheghastlyghouls.bandcamp.com/

Reviewed by Steven Farkas

REVIEW: Thirteen Shots – Tales That Start With a Whisper

Thirteen shots are a horrorbilly 4-piece band from Birmingham, England. They offer everything from high-paced, surf-rock riffs to slower, eerie, more jazzy kind of segments, with plenty of garage sprinkled in. One can definitely hear that these ghoulish rockers take influence from such horror greats like Nekromantix, Calabrese, and The Meteors so if you find yourself gravitating towards such music, “Tales that Start With a Whisper” is an album worth checking out.

As Thirteen Shots are a new band for me its hard to say how they’ve evolved, but from listening to prior material (as well as they entirety of “Vaudeville” as included in the European tour edition of the album) I get the feeling the sound isn’t changing a ton, but rather getting more clean, crisp and tighter as a group altogether. They bring a high energy, party rocking from the grave feel to the forefront of their music, which is particularly apparent in the tracks “Death Jam 2000”, “Nekrosexual”, and the title track “Tales that start with a Whisper”. As well for the more rock/punk oriented boils and ghouls out there, they’ve got the spooky intro and crushing, catchy chorus of “Bewitched”, and for the more jazz/blues inclined, “Psycho Jukebox” brings a rockabilly and spooky underground jazz club vibe to the rest of the album.

All in all, Thirteen Shots did a great job putting together a collection of catchy, rocking, horrorbilly tunes and on top of that some really simple, yet effective artwork to tie everything all up. If you have any interest at all in classic psychobilly and punk, rockabilly, horror punk or anything of the like, “Tales that start with a Whisper” is a must listen! 

7.5/10 Skulls (8.0 for the European Tour Edition)

http://thirteenshots.bandcamp.com

 Reviewed by Ghoulshow

INTERVIEW: Wolfman Chuck & The Spookalele of Doom!

Wolfman Chuck and the Spookalele of Doom make horror/gore-inspired ukulele songs. TBW writer Demetrius, loaded with silver bullets, hunted down the Wolfman himself to ask a few questions about what drives this monster!

Demetrius: Alright, so for your project Wolfman Chuck And the Spookalele of Doom- What was the thing that made you say "I'm doing this right-fucking-now"?

WOLFMAN: Wanting to get back out there on stage and showing other the wonders of the Spookalele. I have been in a lot of bands, but they always fell apart...my ego I guess. Some say a Danzig complex - I say - fuck you! Also, I don't have to show others how to play what I write - less aggravation!

D: I guess that's a pretty helpful perk eh? Collaborating with hardheaded people sucks ass, I think everyone who has tried starting a band knows that feeling.

D: Whose music do you feel you incorporate when you write? Say artists like Cancerslug, Doosh Bucket, Danzig... The sound you produce - Who would you like to thank for that?

WOLFMAN: Lyrically I would say GG, Cancerslug, Doosh Bucket, Necrophagia, Misfits. Really hard to say. I mean I listen to those bands so obviously they are an influence. Comics and Movies also. I usually get this idea in my head and go with it to the extreme, it happens naturally. Musically/instrumentally I am just throwing chords together that I like the sound of. Shit I play a uke my sound will be MY sound.

D: Good answer!

D: You know of Cancerslug of course and how the slug cult is like a second family. Where do you want Wolfman to be in the next couple of years with his fans? And do you want that kind of dedication from your fans?

WOLFMAN: I want to still be making music. Others like my music then that's great, we then have a bond and a reason to shoot the shit together. If you don't like what I do - I really don't give a shit. You're probably just a tool anyways. When it all comes down to it, I make my tunes for me.

D: To all the people that complain about the quality of the music (audio or video files). does that make you more reluctant to record a studio album or does that give you more of a reason to record a studio album?

WOLFMAN: Personally I would like to record with studio sound. Always wondered what it would sound like. But I'm fucking broke. As of now I record with a rock-band microphone I found in the trash and the program Audacity that was free online. The sound I am making as of now is fine with me though!

D: Fucking right Wolfman! Well thank you for taking the time out of your day to speak with me and I, as well of the rest of us, look forward to some new tunes!

WOLFMAN: No problem bro and remember- it's all about the love songs!

Check out Wolfman Chuck and the Spookalele of Doom here!

Fogcreature - "How I Got into Horror Music"

When i was a kid, my parents kept me and my sister in day care while they worked. One place we stayed hosted a halloween sleep over. They let the older kids watch awesome, bloody, horror movies. I wasn't old enough to watch, because I was seven, so i snuck into the room where the movies were playing and watched Pet Semetary all the way through. I was behind a bookshelf, scared to death. From then on I was hooked on horror movies. I've also been drawing bloody, gory pictures since kindergarten. Every school that I attended, I got into trouble just by drawing. If a teacher made me mad, I sent them into a death factory complete with chainsaws and circular saw blades (on paper). That evolved into a comic character named 'Blademan' who i would send to decapitate my enemies. Between drawing bloody pictures, reading Chaos! Comics and watching horror movies, I was pretty content.

I always hear musicians talk about their root influences, which are most of the time the same four bands: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Well, those bands really do nothing for a kid obsessed with horror movies and comic books in the 90s. That's when my love for music really took off. I was twelve/thirteen and in middle school, so round about seventh grade. The school took an overnight field trip to our state capitol, Columbia SC and were allowed portable tape/cd players for the bus ride. Regretfully, I was listening to some Green Day, the Cranberries and other alternative crap when my friend, who I cut up with in science class, threw me a tape. One side was an Adam Sandler comedy record that talked about boobs and said 'fuck' a few times which was cool. The other side was White Zombie - La Sexorcisto. I instantly recognised some sound clips from Dawn of the Dead followed by enough head-banging grooves to change my perception of music for the rest of my time on this planet. I couldn't believe that someone had combined horror movies, heavy guitars and Ed Roth artwork. I begged my friend for the tape and wore the damn thing out in my walkman. As soon as I got home I bought every piece of White Zombie music I could get my hands on, hell, I still do that!

Through high school, along with taking drugs, I was playing drums in a band and sewing Halloween shit all over my clothes like a White Zombie fanboy. I like lots of bands, lots of different genres but I'll always go back to White Zombie for inspiration. White Zombie is my Led Zeppelin, my Black Sabbath. That sounds lame but it's true. For me they are the perfect band. I love horror anything really, love metal, love almost everything Ed Roth ever did. Ed Roth is the father of the rat fink and designed custom cars like the Dragula in the 50s and 60s. I would have loved to meet Ed Roth before he died. Having said all this I'm not a huge Rob Zombie fan. If he were walking my way down the street I'd run the hell away. Because I'm willing to bet my left nut he's a douche, and I'll just be damned if I let anyone ruin La Sexorcisto or Astrocreep 2000 for me.

Fogcreature is horrorstep-producer from the US. You can check out his tracks here!