It used to be a staple that heavy metal songs would be used in horror movie soundtracks, back when those collections were a big deal. Dokken, Slayer, Megadeth, Alice Cooper, Lizzy Borden, Fastway and plenty others had their music in films, and for a lot of audiences, these albums would be an introduction to heavier music.
Buffalo ghouls Cemetery Echo arrived four decades too late, because their music would sound great over, say, a new “Nightmare on Elm Street” chapter, and their debut record “Civitas Lacrimarum” is all the proof anyone needs to hear. The band has some gruffer tendencies, with fingertips in death metal, but they primarily deal in gothic power and a deathrock/punk amalgamation they call “haunt ‘n’ roll.” Yeah, that’s about sums it up. The band—vocalist Rob Palumbo, guitarists Erik Wagonblott and Jay Zgoda, bassist Jason Roman, drummer Mike Paquette—oozes with charisma and an alluring darkness, adding a fun edge to their blood-dripping tales.
“Hell Night” starts with clean guitars washing over, gothy singing flowing, a driving pace pushing into a strong chorus that sticks with you. There are a lot of those here. Raspier howls belt as keys glaze into a neon night, the soloing burns, and the final jolts tear away. “Cannibalistic Underground Nihilist Teens” is punchy with a punk vibe, talk singing slinking, the chorus mesmerizing. Guitars cloud as lightning lines the edges, the singing pulses, and the playing trudges out. “Snakeland’s Pull” has gruff growl singing, guitars dripping, the blackness sinking like ink through water. The track has a total deathrock feel, guitars send heat, and the tempo speeds up, blasting into the shadows. “Knight Rider” lands blows early, growls scrape, and Palumbo howls, “We will obey!” A hypnotic dream unfurls over a nightmarish chorus, and dark colors flow as Palumbo wails, “Rising up from the toxic waste,” as your face is pounded.
“Dungeon of Love” is moody, clean singing slinking, bursting with cold water and hand claps. Throes of vampirism pulls you into the center, Palumbo insisting, “I’ll be the one to bring you home,” as the pace swims into clouds. “Echolocation” smears, gravelly singing bellowing, the darkness spiraling into madness. Ashen tones mix with gloomy keys, the soloing cries out, and the pace surges, bleeding into mercy. “Sanctuary” is eerie, deep vocals penetrate, and the alluring chorus gushes, the guitars giving off a glowing sheen. Growls batter as the leads churn, the melodies spark, and the plastering rumbles. “Trouble with Demons” starts with guitars clouding, the vocals adding to the fog, the playing commanding. “The more you fight, the more you suffer,” Palumbo prods over the chorus, the soloing glides, and the drums blast rock into cinders. Closer “Babylon” spills into gloominess, conjuring a thick ’80s essence, speak-singing clouding your brain. The pace is both catchy and tough, and growls belt hard, letting the temperatures rampage into chaos.
Cemetery Echo would have been an easy choice in the 1980s for a horror movie soundtrack, and “Civitas Lacrimarum” would have offered a lot of gems in that era. This is fun shit, it’s heavy enough to lean into a death metal crowd, but it also can defy this genre and find favor elsewhere. This is graveyard and Halloween shit, stuff that sounds great now when it’s 400 degrees outside but really will peak once autumn arrives.
For more on the band, go here: https://cemeteryecho.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://tornfromthegrave.us/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage%2Ccollection&options%5Bprefix%5D=last&q=cemetery+echo*
Or here (Europe): https://tornfromthegrave.com/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage%2Ccollection&options%5Bprefix%5D=last&q=cemetery+echo*
For more on the label, go here: https://www.seeingredrecords.com/
Meat Mead Metal 