Label: Nuclear Blast
Release date: 27th of September 2019
Genre: Horror Rock
Band members:-
Wednesday 13 – Vocals,
Roman Surman – Guitars,
Jack Tankersley – Guitars,
Troy Doebbler – Bass,
Kyle Castronovo – Drums,
Tracklisting :-
1) Necrophaze (featuring Alice Cooper),
2) Bring Your Own Blood,
3) ZODIAC,
4) Monster (featuring Cristina Scabbia),
5) Decompose,
6) Be Warned (featuring Jeff Clayton),
7) The Hearse,
8) Tie Me A Noose,
9) Life Will Kill Us All,
10) Bury The Hatchet,
11) Necrophaze Main Theme (End Credits),
12) Animal (F*ck Like A Beast) ,
After, ‘Condolences’ in 2017, their first album for their new label Nuclear Blast ‘Necrophaze’ represents the eighth album release for the highly productive Wednesday 13. The ‘Duke Of Spook’ has returned with his brand of horror punk in a rapid fashion with an album dripping with nods to their forebears Alice Cooper, Kiss and W.A.S.P. Heavily influenced by the real-life night terror occurrences of Wednesday himself, historical serial killers and 80s horror films, the album artwork featuring pieces akin to ‘Creepshow’ and John Carpenter’s ‘The Fog’.
With the death of Necrophagia frontman, Killjoy, earlier this year, and whilst creating a new mould for a stage mask, the development of the ‘Necrophaze’ character and story began to take shape. The recurring themes throughout illuminate facets of real life horror. ‘It starts with a title for me’, explains Wednesday 13. ‘A lot of ‘Necrophaze’ is my own nightmare, but we’ve worked some history in there so it’s not all fantasy’.
Who better then to introduce the album than none other than the original shock rocker, Alice Cooper. The sinister undertone to his spoken word prelude a fitting way to get the album off to a start. After a minute the song starts to kick off with the riffs and beats that Wednesday 13 are famed for. The title track is not just an introduction to the character but also, to the terrifying circumstances of sleep paralysis.
‘Bring Your Own Blood’ draws on a synth introduction with a ’80s horror movie theme. The song title a play on bring your own booze. ‘So we wrote a song that’s sort of a more violent ‘Monster Mash’, according to Wednesday. It has that sort of bounce as though it was a decent horror punk anthem.
ZODIAC brings together a touch of industrial, some samples and punishing beat and riff. Catchy throughout, this features a great show into how versatile Kyle Castronovo’s drumming is.
‘Monster’ features the amazing talents of Cristina Scabbia. It starts off as a straight out ghoulish rocker and has a great chorus with the aforementioned voice. The riff chugs along like something Mr Mustaine would have been proud of. Scabbia’s vocal the perfect foil for the gruff tones of Wednesday 13. ‘You made me a monster, and now that monster is coming after you….’
First single ‘Decompose’ which was initially written by the drummer, Kyle, was the first song/demo to be brought to the table. The inspiration for which ‘… is like a catchy anthem for the idea of “I know that you’re dead, but I wish you could be deader…”‘. It certainly has a beat that will get a crowd banging their noggins.
If you mixed Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, W.A.S.P. and a dash of Megadeth, this probably close to what you would get. Musically it is fine album with plenty of hooks and choruses for the crowds to enjoy. With literally every show selling out on the latest run of 2019 touring, there can be no doubt that fans of Wednesday 13 will enjoy them dropping the new album just in time for All Hallows Eve. It’s time to get your ghoul on, with Duke of Spook. Prepare to enter the Necrophaze…
SCORE: 9 out of 10
Reviewed by: Stefan Putwain
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