Album Of The Week: Party Monsters by The Haxans

I am always on an endless search to bring new and exciting albums to you guys that I am also discovering at the same time as well. I do this especially when I cover Halloween/horror/Goth themed music for the Album Of The week posts when October rolls around. This past Friday The 13TH, one of those opportunities came knocking on my door when I was presented with a group that features a member of Rob Zombie’s band and New Year’s Day. The group I am talking about is a Goth Pop duo by the name of The Haxans (named after the 1922 silent horror film) which features Matt Montgomery a.k.a. Piggy D (Vocals & Guitar) and Ashley Costello (Vocals) of New Year’s Day. The name of the album is Party Monsters and here is Matt talking about it, “This record is a party for everyone else like us. The cover, the songtitles, the energy and the colors of this record are going to pull together an amazing cross section of people. It’s just everything we like and celebrate every day, but amped up to eleven! It’s got a kids-jumping-on-the-bed-while-the-parents-are-out-of-the-room feeling to it to me, which is kind of what this record was for us.” I’m not 100% positive on who else performed on the record, but I believe Blasko (Ozzy Osbourne, Ex-Rob Zombie) may have helped in some way.

1. Lights Out– A very cool Goth Pop song that has a little of The Munsters flavor to it combined with the Zombie feel. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album and it seems like it’s all about the fun starting when the lights go out. 5/5

2. Young Blood– A cool track that starts off rocking before it mellows out with only bass and drums during the verses before turning it up to 11 again. 4.5/5

3. Dirty Magic– A cool track off the album that has a little bit of that electronic club feel to it along with the rock. Ashley proves in this track that she is a frontwoman as she sings about how she can’t believe that she fell for someone so it must have been dirty magic. 5/5

4. Black Cat Bone– This is a cool track that has a more rock version of a Shania Twain/Robert Palmer track. This is a track that Matt and Ash sing together on the track. Costello talked about the track saying, ” In voodoo culture, wearing a black cats bone would ward off unwanted romantic gestures. Something to think about.” 5/5

5. Party Time– More of a horror like track than what we previous heard as it almost has a Zombie feel in a track that is about a bunch of kids who are on the brink of death in the name of partying. Cool guitar solo from Matt on this track for sure. 4.5/5

6. Chains– A cool more mellow and eerie track from the duo that Costello told Alternative Press, “The song ‘Chains’ is the first song that we recorded together and it has such a groovy vibe. The lyrics are about someone who is like a ghost in your life. Someone that just won’t go away. This song is the direct message to them.” 4.5/5

7. Witch Wave– Definitely a electro-pop track with Ash’s vocals having a hip hop feel to it about a girl who feels betrayed so she’s out for revenge. 4/5

8. I Think Of Demons– A very different track with some keys in it, but a very much a pop track in this track that is a duet between the two again which is a sympathy track for demons cause who else thinks for them? 4/5

9. Professional Weirdo– This is a song that is sung int he same style of another that I can’t think of right now. It runs on the idea of teenage angst where the narrator is mad at the world that they don’t fit in. 4/5

10. Slick Black Coffin– More of that electro goth pop fun that is actually a great signature sound for the band. The track has that feel of if Lady Gaga decided to be more hard rock. 5/5

11. Boo– A very cool b-horror themed intro along with the Zombie-esque rock before it mellows out for the verses. The track seems to be about a ghost who loves scaring people. 5/5

12- Vampira– The band’s cover of the famous Misfits track. 4/5

My Final Thoughts– I honestly think that these guys could have a future if they decide to do any more music. Most of the album goes from sounding like a female fronted Zombie band to a Lady Gaga gone horror rock/pop style. Ashley is an amazing vocalist whose style fits the music perfectly. I am a huge fan of the record and I hope to hear more from them in the future. Check it out for yourselves, I am giving the record 4.5 stars out of five for a final grade.

Cover Of The Week: We Care A Lot by Korn

This past week (September 12TH) Metal Hammer Magazine released a special CD to commemorate 30 years that the magazine has been around called Decades Of Destruction. The magazine acquired the likes of bands like The Devin Townsend Project, New Years Day, Asking Alexandria, Sabaton, Hacktivist, and today’s band that we are featuring Korn.  The band covers a Faith No More track, but not what you think they would (or maybe you would). The band covers the classic We Care A Lot track that featured original singer Chuck Mosley. Korn does an amazing job handling the music part while Jonathan Davis shines on vocals. The band pretty much makes the track their own by updating the sound of the track with that heavy bass slapping from Fieldy. You should definitely check this one out as well as the rest of the record which also features a killer cover of an Accept song by The Devin Townsend Project.

Music Video Of The Week: Human by Hellyeah

Is there a point in a band’s career when we stop calling them a supergroup and just call them a band? That could definitely be the case for this week’s band that is featured on Music Video Of The Week in Texas groove metal titans Hellyeah. The band is celebrating their tenth anniversary of being together this year with a new album and despite some member changes I would say ten years is a solid amount of time to think that maybe these guys are not going anywhere. The band is releasing their fifth album on June 3RD called Unden!able and they are releasing it via Eleven Seven Music. The band has also unleashed a brand new music video for their track Human and it’s mostly a performance based video with the band in a very dark and lightly lit warehouse. The feel and look  of the music video definitely matches the emotion that Chad Gray is pouring into his lyrics. It’s one hell of a track and I love the new look Chad Gray is sporting with the dreads. Check out the album when it’s released and see the band on tour right now as they headline the We’re All in This Together Tour with Escape The Fate, New Year’s Day, and From Ashes To New.