This is the milestone album for The 69 Eyes. The one where they shucked off the black capes, the fake fangs and departed their Transylvania-of-the-mind for good.
It was a sound that was energized by the shadowy, soul sucking twilight zone that surrounded the eighties' LA sleaze rock scene. But it became hogtied by its own format.
Time to move on to fresh fields. Still fields of blood perhaps, and the undercurrent of glamrock remains, but the music is now awash with gothic, industrialized metal, full of gritty, thick cuts riffs, informed by a love of the big screen. The band have clearly being paying attention to Lordi's runaway success with a similar formula (listen to '
The Good, The Bad and The Undead'). No surprise there. That whole vampire thing can provide lots of campy moments. So why not go the extra mile and embrace the absurdity of it all.
One very welcome consequence is more focus on the songwriting. '
Back In Blood' is brimful of memorable melodies and is spilling over with sinuous hooks.
The recording is again solidly constructed, with new producer, Matt (Slayer/ Monster Magnet) Hyde giving it a lushly dark and decadent sound, but streamlined now, with a harder edge and a more minimal vibe.
Opener and title track,
'Back In Blood' picks up the momentum of an express train. A sinister but compelling mixture of mantra and riffy rhythms.
Catchy, hard rocking track s like
'Dead Girls Are Easy' and '
Kiss The Undead'' will spiral through your bloodstream and into your subconscious after only a couple of spins.
'We Own The Night' and '
Lips Of Blood' combine the blackly romanticized drama of the Cult with the achingly ambitious sound of Simple Minds.
Jyrki still does that theatrical, Boris Karloff styled, half spoken, half sung vocals to great effect.
'Some Kind Of Magic' and
'Night Watch' bear witness to that.
The 69 Eyes may well have found that sleaze/glam/hard rock template from which a thousand albums have been struck, but thankfully they've found a way to put their own spin on it. Not unique, but vastly entertaining.
Written by
Brian Saturday, November 14, 2009
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