Album Of The Week: Twin Temple (Bring You Their Signature Sound…. Satanic Doo-Wop) by Twin Temple

We are continuing our journey of discovery as we inch closer and closer to the greatest holiday in the world which is Halloween. Every year when I do the Halloween/horror themed Album Of The Week post, I try to look for new bands and I may have found one that might not have heard of, but you definitely need to get acquainted with. The group is called Twin Temple and they are a duo from Los Angeles that also happen to be Satanists who love 1950’s/60’s Doo-Wop Classic Rock And Roll and the beauty is that they mix the two. As they claim from Robert Johnson at the crossroads to Norwegian Black Metal, Satan has long been apart of the musical landscape and vocalist Alexandra James claims, “We’ve always loved rock ‘n’ roll, especially from the golden era of American music, but we’re also Satanists and study the Occult. We both practice magick. It was just a crazy idea– ‘Why can’t you love Roy Orbison and hail Satan at the same time?’ Satanism has been relegated to the metal scene for so long, but we are Satanists and listen to The Platters and Buddy Holly, you know? We love metal too, but this is a reflection of who we are as people. This record was something we wanted to create for ourselves… we were happy to see that it resonated with other people out there, too.” Along with partner Zachary James, they are taking the world by storm as we check out their first album Twin Temple (Bring You Their Signature Sound…. Satanic Doo-Wop).

1. The Devil (Didn’t Make Me Do It)– a cool track that is all about debunking the reasoning’s behind some of the legends of rock infamy saying that we all blame Satan for it, but it’s really just us. 5/5

2. Luicfer, My Love– In this ballad, Alexandra James’s amazing vocals professes her love for the lord of darkness while Zachary’s arrangements are perfect. 5/5

3. Sex Magick-This track has that classic drum intro you hear in tracks like My Boyfriend’s Back as Alexandra sings about the night she met the one for her and how the sex was magical. 4.5/5

4. I Know How To Hex You– Zachary James does a great job capturing the sounds of the 50’s/60’s with the horns mixed with the rockabilly guitar that we would’ve heard in a Bond film. This is Alexandra getting revenge on all the men who have wronged her. 4.5/5

5. I’m Wicked-a slow temple leads this cool as ice and spooky track that is all about the power of a black magick woman. 5/5

6. In Lvx-Organs help light the mood in this 60’s psychedelic rock track instrumental. 5/5

7. Santa Muerte-a doo-wop classic with a bit of a Latin/salsa touch to it in this track that is all about just who is the Santa Muerte? 4.5/5

8. Let’s Hang Together-an interesting take on the idea of till death do us part as he claims that if you die then I’ll die gladly. 4.5/5

9. Femme Fatale-a cool track that is all about what makes her a femme fatale, but you know the kind that men can not resist. 4.5/5

10. In Nox-The last track on the album and another instrumental that showcases Zachary’s talent. 5/5

My Final Thoughts– I listen to this album and just for a moment suspend the lyrics and you can definitely feel like you are listening to music that could have been there in the 1950’s/60’s. They do a magnificent job with it like Ghost does with 70’s era rock music and I can dig it. Check this album out if you love a little classic rock and roll. I am giving the album 4.75 stars out of five for a final grade.

Album Of The Week: Meliora by Ghost

I am super excited for this week’s album of the week because it’s an album that is from one of my new favorite bands in metal in Ghost and it’s the last Halloween related album of the week post. Ghost is a satanic 70’s esque metal band from Sweden who this year released their third album in Meliora which is Latin for the pursuit of something better. The album features the new Papa in Papa Emeritus III handling the vocal duties while The Nameless Ghouls are the band and they remain nameless while the album was produced by Klas Åhlund (Katy Perry, Ellie Goulding). The album is often credited with having a “Futuristic” sound thanks to a tone one of the Ghouls had discovered while messing with a new amp on the last tour. It was then that the band said they knew what they wanted to do with the next record and it all had to do with focusing back on the guitars. According to wikipedia the band focused on the guitar riffs, “part of this was achieved by having four different guitars, each played through three different amps, making four performances going through 12 amplifiers. They used two Gibson SGs, one from the early 1980s and the other from the 1960s, a 1962 Gibson Les Paul, and a Fender Telecaster.” Nevertheless, the album was released on August 21, 2015 and it debuted at number eight on the Billboard Top 200 charts selling an estimated 29,000 copies in it’s first week of release.

1. Spirit– This is the first track on the record that has that very sci-fi/50’s alien sound to it before the band comes in with a hard charging riff. 4/5

2. From The Pinnacle To The Pit– One of my favorite tracks on the record. The song starts off with a killer bass riff and the bass drives the song all the way through. Papa Emeritus III delivers vocally while the rest of the Nameless Ghouls deliver their best as they were influenced by Zeppelin on this track about the downfall of Satan. 5/5

3. Cirice– The track showcases their ability to be that eerie atmospheric band in the beginning of the track before The Nameless Ghouls bring their brand of metal assault to the track. The band in my opinion sounds better than ever and Papa Emeritus III sounds on top of his game as well. 5/5

4. Spöksonat (Ghost Sonata)– This is an instrumental track on the record that sounds like it could be placed in any horror film. 4/5

5. He Is– A very melodic track that sounds like an evil version of ABBA at times musically, but the song is very haunting vocally. During the track, he chants out Nostro Dis Pater, Nostra Domate which means “he is the god of the underworld, our top” or it could mean “Our Unholy Father, Our Master” depending on who you listen to. 4.5/5

6. Mummy Dust– this track’s guitar riff is super charged full of high octane metal, but i have no idea what the song is about. 4/5

7. Majesty– The track has a very Deep Purple feel to it especially with the organs and it sound slike something that would have been off of the first record. A Nameless Ghoul explains the lyrics saying that, “Lyrically, it’s on one hand a hymn about the dark lord of the underworld. On the other hand it paints a picture of a swarm of people, whom in a world of complete disaster, idolizes an authority that is clearly looking down upon the. How to love something that hates you back.” 5/5

8. Devil Church– The track starts off with organs like we are in a church procession, but this is another instrumental track. 4/5

9. Absolution– This is a balls to the wall metal track that would make Metallica proud of Ghost. In the lyrics it says cry for absolution and the definition of absolution is the formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment. So figure it out.

10. Deus in Absentia– This is the last track on the album and it’s just as rocking as the others, but you have to love the harmonizing these guys provide that make their track a little more eerie. 4.5/5

My Final Thoughts– I loved the first two records from these guys even though they took some flack for Infestissumam not having enough guitars in it. So, I suppose that this record is a return to form for them and it’s definitely one of my favs. I am going to give this record 4.3 stars out of five for a final grade. Happy Halloween Everyone.

Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween 2015: Day 10: Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

When you think of director Roman Polanski, you may think of several unflattering things, but when I think of him I think of two things and that is Sharon Tate and Rosemary’s Baby. For today’s Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween film, we chose the Polanski classic Rosemary’s Baby which starred Mia Farrow as the title character Rosemary Woodhouse. In the film, Rosemary along with her husband Guy Woodhouse (John Cassavetes) move into a new apartment with some pretty interesting characters in the building. After a while, it’s not only the neighbors that are a little weird, but strange occurrences start to happen in the building and Rosemary becomes mysteriously pregnant. Rosemary then starts to believe that her child is in danger as paranoia starts to sink in as she tries to protect her unborn child. The film also stars Ruth Gordon (Harold And Maude) as Minnie Castevet, Sidney Blackmer (Little Caesar) as Roman Castevet, Maurice Evans (Planet Of The Apes) as Hutch, Ralph Bellamy (His Girl Friday) as Dr. Sapirstein, Victoria Vetri (When Dinosaurs Rules The Earth) as Terry, Patsy Kelly (The Naked Kiss) as Laura-Louise, Charles Grodin (Midnight Run) as Dr. Hill, and Phil Leeds (Ghost) as Dr. Shand.

There is a reason why in the beginning you see the title card say Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby because she is truly the star of the film. She absolutely stole the show and she does such a fantastic job in this film especially when she conveys us to that world of paranoia that she is stuck in when she’s in that building. It is truly an iconic role for Mia Farrow and I’m glad she was the one that took on this risque role especially in a time where religion was still an important thing in society. There is a scene in the film where she is raped by the devious one himself Satan as she wonders if it’s real or a dream. Everyone by the way in this film are truly fantastic as the acting was superb and the cinematography was good as well. There’a a truly iconic moment towards the end where she is sort of feeling the post pardon depression because she knows she had an abomination, but then she is all of a sudden accepting of the child. She embraces the fact that he is the son of a devilish being towards the end of the film. The style of this film would go on to influence so many horror films in the future just with the aspect of the paranoia just unveiling itself over time in the film. Just think of the Johnny Depp film The Astronauts Wife which was sort of on the same premise (sorta). I am a huge fan of this film and I always say that this is an essential horror film that everyone should check out. Learn from the best, I always say which is why I am going to give this film an A for a final grade. It’s available on Netflix as we speak.

Single Of The Week: From The Pinnacle To The Pit by Ghost

Today we are doing a double shot of Single Of The Week’s and here is your very first one for today. It is no secret that Ghost is clearly one of my favorite bands on the scene right now even though it may not be for some (e.g. Kerry King), but that won’t deter me from enjoying new music from the band. Four days ago, the band and Papa Emeritus III unveiled another single from their upcoming third record Meliora called From The Pinnacle To The Pit and the song kicks plenty of ass. The song starts off with a killer bass riff and the bass drives the song all the way through. Papa Emeritus III delivers vocally while the rest of the Nameless Ghouls deliver their best as they were influenced by Zeppelin on this track about the downfall of Satan. A Nameless Ghoul describes the song and album saying, “We always have had a craving for a truly stomping riff-­based song, Led Zeppelin style. Something that would sound great coming out of a car stereo standing at an American high school parking lot. The whole album was written and intended to be very futuristic, very metropolitan and urban. Basically just opposed from the classic goth thing, which is more suburban and rural and more being lush with overgrown cemeteries, spiderwebs… all of that. We were trying to take this thing to a very clean, indoors, 67th floor in a very high building in a very big city. Those were the pictures we hung on the walls in our mind in order to know where we were going.” Check out the track below and look out for Meliora which comes out August 21ST via Loma Vista.

Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween 2013: Day 28: The Sentinel (1977)

I had an idea for a scholarly article that I want to write about and I came upon a list of the 50 best satanic films of all time according to the person. There on the list was the film The Sentinel which quickly grabbed my attention due to the heavy future star power in the film. The film is about a model named Alison (Cristina Raines) who seems to have everything going for her. That is until she moves into a nice apartment in Brooklyn Heights and meets some pretty strange neighbors. The only thing is that Alison begins to see things and apparently the neighbors don’t exist. What is happening to Alison and who is the strange priest on the top floor? All that is answered in this film, but you’ll have to watch and find out. The film also stars Chris Sarandon (Child’s Play), Jeff Goldbloom (The Fly), Burgess Meredith (Rocky), Christopher Walken (The Dead Zone), Jerry Orbach (Law & Order), Beverly D’Angelo (National Lampoon Vacation), Sylvia Miles (Midnight Cowboy), Eli Wallach (The Godfather Part III), Ava Gardner (The Killers), John Carradine (The Grapes Of Wrath), and Martin Balsam (Tora Tora Tora).

I was shocked every time I recognized an actor in this film and then I would wonder why I hadn’t heard of the film before. The film basically takes what The Omen and Rosemary’s Baby do in their films and they amp it up with a different type of story. The Sentinel in this film is someone who is there to protect the gates of hell to make sure they stay closed. The demons will tempt the chosen the one with suicide that way when the current Sentinel passes, the gates will remain open. There is a interesting scene in the beginning with Beverly D’Angelo and her lesbian lover played by Sylvia Miles. Sylvia leaves the room and Beverly begins to play with herself in front of Alison and it’s kind of a weird and awkward scene. Other than that, the film tries to build suspense through confusion and I mean that by saying that we think these people are real, but they’re not. I didn’t understand the angle with the church for a while until the last twenty minutes of the film, but don’t let that sway you away because this is an amazing film. I am going to give a A- for a final grade.

Album Of The Week: Infestissumam By Ghost B.C.

courtesy of wikipedia

I couldn’t resist doing an album of the week on one of my favorite up and coming bands that is just blowing up. Ghost B.C. which is led by it’s fearless leader Papa Emeritus II, the band is gearing up to release their brand new venture entitled, Infestissumam, which means hostile in Latin on April 16, 2013. In my opinion, this is a highly anticipated release and that is the reason you are getting three album of the week reviews in one week. Somethings in life just supersede everything else that is going on in the rock world.  So, hopefully, you enjoy my review on the brand new album.

Infestissumam Per Aspera Part 1 starts off the record and in typical fashion, the track sounds as if you are attending a mass of the satanic church that just started with the chanting followed by the band kicking in before it leads to the next track Infestissumam Per Aspera Part 2 which is high octane powered classic metal. Papa’s vocal’s are top notch on the track and I think he is an amazing vocalist plus the harmonizing on the chorus is amazing as well. Secular Haze has that organ intro that makes you believe you are entering a dark carnival and when the band kicks in it’s 70’s hard rock at it’s finest. Giggalo is the next track and it’s one of the most hard rocking tracks that these guys put out. It’s upbeat and it kicks ass. Ghuleh/Zombie Queen was the next track and it started off real slow with a creepy guy whispering Ghuleh. It’s 70’s rock ballad cheese at it’s best, but it’s actually pretty clever almost like a love song to the Succubus. At just about the three minute mark, the song starts to speed up and they proclaim their love to the Zombie Queen in a very surfer rock manner. Year Zero starts off with more of the church like chanting and it even continues when the band kicks in. I feel that the band is taking a lot more influence from the Blue Oyster Cult and I think BOC wishes they wrote tracks like these back in their heyday.  They even include my favorite word in the lyrics (Crestfallen) which I discovered one day on Thesaurus.com

Artwork From Inside The Album

Body In Blood is a big riff, hard rock charging song with a very classical style intro that is a song about enticing the son of God to the dark side.  Idolatrine is a rock song with a little bit of a punk flare to it. Depth of Satans Eyes is a decent rocker with swagger on the album that has an 80’s metal feel to it. Monstrance Clocks has that creepy cult guy feel to it where he sings with no music in the beginning and when the music kicks in it’s doom metal heaven that would make Black Sabbath happy.  I love the guitar solo in the song because it even has a creepiness to it which is exciting. The end of the track makes you feel as if the mass was over as everyone sings together in harmony as you prepare to leave. If you get the deluxe version of the album then you will get the ABBA cover, I’m a Marionette, which features Dave Grohl on drums and it’s amazing and worth extra buck. So, overall I think the record is definitely a step up from the last one. The band is really gelling together real nicely and the music kicks ass which is very important. I am going to give the album 4.5 stars our of five.

Album Of The Week: Opus Eponymous By Ghost (2010)

Courtesy of wikipedia

I chose the first album by Swedish Metal band Ghost because they’re getting ready to release their sophomore effort very soon. They’re a band that absolutely does not want you to know they’re true identity as they preach the word of the church of Satan, but they are lead by a man with a skull painted face and an outfit the Pope would dawn and he calls himself Papa Emeritus II and his band is simply known as the Nameless Ghouls. They released the début album entitled Opus Eponymous on October 10, 2010 and their popularity has sky-rocketed and their respect within the Metal community has grown immensely. Phil Anselmo of Down performed at the Download festival wearing a Ghost t-shirt and he even invited three of the Nameless Ghouls on stage to perform with him. He even changed the song title of Bury Me In Smoke to Bury Me In Ghost before Ghost took the stage. The band’s sound is very similar to Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Witchfinder General, and Mercyful Fate.

The first track on the album is actually an intro called Deus Culpa and it reminds me of walking into a Sunday mass to hear the sermon with the organs playing before it kicks into the next track. Con Clavi Con Dios starts with a very cool bass riff before the track becomes suspensful and chaotic at the same time with a very eerie sounding verse and just when you think things are a little calm, it becomes chaotic again. The track Ritual is very different from the last one where you see them flex their musical abilities channelling B.O.C and Sabbath. Elizabeth is a very straight up metal song with vocal harmonizing and strong organ playing in the chorus. The song has a very seventies metal feel to it especially in the guitar solo (which is pretty good). Stand By Him starts off with a drum beat that is very similar to Starry Eyes by Mötley Crüe, but other than that it is one of my favorite tracks on the whole album. The guitar riff is very chunky and bad ass and even though I am not a Satanist, his lyrics are very fitting for the song. Believe in Ghost, you will be head-banging  just not as hard as you would at a Pantera concert. Satan Prayer is doom metal at it’s best and it would make Sabbath very proud. Death Knell is very much the same style as the last, but more sludge metal pace with its very gloomy and creepy lyrics and singing style. Prime Mover starts off rocking and then it gets funky for a bit with the bass before it rocks again. I really love this bands technique of going pretty smooth with the verse before it goes chaotic like a cherry bomb that just exploded in your stereo. If you had the American release then Genesis was the last track on the album where the organist gets to flex his muscles before the band comes in like a freight train coming in at a 1000 MPH. The song reminds me of the technique a lot of NWOBHM used when they were writing songs like Iron Maiden with it’s epic guitar playing for example. It’s one of my other favorite tracks because it’s an instrumental. 

Now if you were lucky to get your hands on the Japanese release of this album then you had a bonus track on the album. They do an amazing cover of the Beatles track Here Comes The Sun which was written by George Harrison. They make the song very evil and doom sounding which is right up my alley and it sounds like a track that was released 40 years ago. They do a terrefic job and I know that because a friend of mine is a Beatles aficionado and he doesn’t like a lot of Beatles covers and he enjoyed this one. This album overall was amazing and they were clearly the band of the year in 2010 and 2011 and I cannot wait to hear the new release entitled Infestissumam which is due out in April of this year. As far as this release is concerned I am giving it a 4.5 stars out of five. You should definitely check this album out before you divulge yourself in the new one.