Acid Witch – Evil Sound Screamers

     “Watch out for things that look like candy, but might be medicines or drugs” warns a public service advisory from a bygone age. To many, the fact that this was released on Halloween is appropriate and in their mind, that’s when they’ll likely come back to visit this album. That’s their loss. That’s not how I feel. This is all year round music for me and hopefully for you too.

     Unlike their first album, Witchtanic Hellucination, this new album isn’t quite so obsessed with gurgling throughout and instead conjures up an atmosphere that’s meant to lull you, to put you at ease, even make you think you’re here to have fun… before introducing you to all manner of monsters and horror. “Mr. Beistle” with it’s creepy laughing throughout gives you just a taste of what’s really to come. “I Hate Halloween” should feel familiar in that it’s closer to what Acid Witch are known for, that crushing, depths of hell kind of death/doom, but also the sentiment it carries – we’ve all heard it, from relatives or friends who aren’t in any way connected to the titular day in question.

     The next track, likely recognized as a standout by many, starts off with one of my favorite parts of the album, a newscast from the beginning of the 80s detailing controversy surrounding a certain William Lustig film. Again though, the song carries what should be a recognizable sentiment for both sides, one that shies some away and the other that endears many of us to a genre that has shaped and molded our lives for decades now. I shouldn’t even need to point out the tongue-in-cheekiness of it all, but just in case, if you can’t get down with Cheap Gore, both the song (that riff!) and the films that inspired it, well, this probably isn’t the album for you.

     “The Nain Rouge” tells a quaint story about a local Detroit legend (again, from what sounds like at least an 80s newscast) before everything comes at you in force. Another advisory introduces you to what was a lead off song released prior to the album and another standout, at least for me. “Mutilation Mansion” provides what is probably the most accessible journey on the album and maybe in Acid Witch’s oeuvre as it takes you through what feels like the best haunted house ride you’ve ever been on, and like only the best haunted house rides, at the end of it, you’re going to die. “Hardrock Halloween” starts with my other favorite advisory from that bygone age, something you can easily imagine having watched when you were younger, in school. Sitting there dulled out of your senses because you’re supposed to pay attention to some boring whoever telling you to be good little boys and girls when usually, these only served to send kids in the other direction, subconsciously giving them ideas. The song harkens back a bit to an album that may wind up covered in another volume here as it was done by the same mastermind behind Acid Witch and if you dig the sound of it and aren’t already familiar, you should be on the lookout for an album called Your Worst Nightmare by Horrific. It’s great. The title alone for “Nightmare in a Damaged Brain” should already automatically summon images to the forefront of yours and the clip that plays should only help. The final song sends you out exactly as intended – screaming, whether it’s screaming for more or just screaming is going to depend on you, but hopefully it’s the former since this song is another standout filled with synthy atmosphere and a permeating gruesomeness, not to mention a riff that sounds like it was pried from some primordial text that was never meant for mortal eyes. This album should have zero trouble keeping your Halloween spirit up year round and if you’re a newcomer to Acid Witch, I highly recommend looking into the mastermind behind the band as there are plenty more goodies where this came from.

 Make sure you check out Mutilation Mansion and the link for the full album. Stay tuned next month for the second installment with something… seasonally special.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MVoVOq6-BM

Album: https://acid-witch-detroit.bandcamp.com/album/evil-sound-screamers