Christian Death – Evil Becomes Rule (Album – Season Of Mist)
Genre/Influences: Death-Rock, Goth-Rock.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: Valor Kand (vocals, guitars, violin, cello, piano, keyboards, percussion), Maitri Nicolai (vocals, bass guitar) and Pao (drums) composed and recorded the seventieth studio album of Christian Death.
Content: Despite the numerous line-up changes Christian Death has always held on to this typical and powerful Death-Rock style. The guitar parts create this furious and heavy impression while electronic arrangements achieve the work with a heavenly touch. Male- and female vocals are in perfect harmony although Maitri’s vocals have something bewitching.
+ + + : Christian Death has this atypical sound you directly recognize among others. The perfect fusion between Dark-Rock and Gothic music creating a heavy and sometimes merciless sound. The guitar playing dominates and even excels when carried by electro arrangements like on “Blood Moon” which is my personal favorite one. I also must mention “Abraxas We Are” which is another exposure of the band’s maturity and potential.
– – – : After all these years of commitment and an impressive discography Christian Death no longer takes me by surprise. The sound formula is a familiar one resulting in a predictable composition. The fans will not complain.
Conclusion: Christian Death remains a unique experience in sound which still inspires other artists. The new album will not enter into history as their most successful one, but fans will not be disappointed.
Best songs: “Blood Moon”, “Abraxas We Are”, “Elegant sleeping”, “Beautiful”.
Rate: 7½.
Artist: www.officialchristiandeath.com / www.facebook.com/christiandeath
Label: www.season-of-mist.com / www.facebook.com/seasonofmistofficial
About Christian Death
Christian Death is an American rock band formed in Claremont, California, in 1979 by Rozz Williams, John “Jay” Albert, James McGearty and George Belanger. The band moves between gothic rock, deathrock and art punk. Its 1982 debut album “Only Theatre of Pain”, recorded with guitarist Rikk Agnew of the Adolescents, McGearty on bass and Belanger on drums, is tied to the development of deathrock and to the American gothic scene that also produced Kommunity FK and 45 Grave.
The line-up broke up after that record and the band has run through a long list of members since, among them Gitane DeMone, Eva O, David Glass, Barry Galvin, William Faith and Casey Chaos. Valor Kand and Maitri form the current core, with Jason Frantz also listed as a member. Labels across the band’s history include Frontier, L’Invitation au Suicide, ROIR, Nostradamus, Cleopatra, Normal, Jungle, Contempo, Century Media, Candlelight and Season of Mist.
“Evil Becomes Rule” was released on 6 May 2022 through Season of Mist and holds eleven tracks running about 42 minutes, opening with “The Alpha and the Omega” and closing with “Who Am I (part 2)”. The recording line-up was Valor on lead vocals, guitars, violin, cello, piano, keyboards and percussion, Maitri on lead vocals and bass guitar, and Pao on drums. The band toured Europe behind the record and returned in 2024 with the Armageddon Tour.
Support Side-Line
More people read Side-Line than ever, and there is still no paywall and no advertising. Readers pay for it instead - from $5 a month.
Why we ask
Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations we have not put up a paywall, and we refuse to add annoying advertising, so we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes time, money and hard work to produce, and we do it to push the artists we like, who are equally fighting to survive.
Handled by PayPal.
I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
