Halloween album challenge (1,802 views)

[blazejecar2]

this thread needs more type o negative/69eyes and the like

[analC***fan1000]

Another punk one except with a more post-hardcore influence, Funeral Sciences by Schoolyard Heros took me by surprise by how musically fitting it was for horror type punk and the strong songwriting. The weird little dissonant chords just ooze personality like something outta Orchid. There’s also dual female and male vocalists (although he shows up rarely) both give unique performances that shake up the album from time to time. Incredibly underrated, go check these guys out if you have the time.

[analC***fan1000]

Okay I think I’ve had enough with these rock operas ‘cause this one sucks. Sanguivore by Creeper is like taking if you took Ghost and The Birthday Massacre, the former I like and the latter I adore, and put them into a blender to create a shitty smoothie. Normally I don’t like comparing bands together but Creeper is so derivative of both and the wider modern alternative it’s boggles my mind. A straight 40+ minutes of the most uninteresting wannabe cinematic guitars solos, unneeded synths, and slobbering vocal melodies. I would tell of the stories of a few tracks but if I tried to go into the album I think my brain would melt. I think one was about some guy becoming a vampire? The overall aesthetic/lyrical consistency is just satanic imagery and/or blasphemy statements which is fine I don’t really mind what an artist has to say but it sooooooo overplayed after Ghost became popular I would honestly like it more if it was secular. This is probably the 2nd worst album I’ve covered so far and I implore you to listen to a much better album by Meat Loaf that is ten times better than this.



Also their social media is full of silly foreshadowing lmao

[analC***fan1000]

I have to admit fault again since again I have a 2-for-1, not for anything stopping I was just lazy lol. I promise I won’t make this mistake but I’m probably shedding brain cells while typing this so I’ll just get to the point. Severed Heads with their sound on Rotund for Success is a style I can’t quite describe without sounding kinda like a goober. It’s 3/4ths synth and the rest is industrial, not as squeaky clean as most of those synth ridden pop but not as mechanical and harsh as many industrial are. For me it sounds like a perfect Halloween pop but disappointed me with the results. It’s as if it’s cereal as music where it’s nice and solid, increasing getting soggy until you’re left gawking at the formerly tasty dessert-turned-breakfast.




I’ve heard that the fall season is practically every goth's favorite season and really I don’t know anyone who can object to that reasoning. So since that’s the objective truth I thought of covering two albums from goth legends Type O Negative for today and tomorrow. I thought it would be fitting to cover Blood Kisses and then more critically acclaimed October Rust in order. Damn it was a nice start, TON brings alot of their own weird charm that fluctuates almost every track. It even borders hardcore sometimes with the humorous Kill All the White People and We Hate Everyone. TON brings such a provocative sense of comfort it feels almost alien.

[analC***fan1000]

Type O Negative for lack of a better word is the essential band when it comes to gothic music. Not many other bands can capture a gentle atmospheric hold over the taboo, mysterious, and sometimes humorous things in life. October Rust best exemplifies this in my opinion with alot more experimentation on vocal delivery and guitar tones. What’s laid out is an enchanting experience with 7-10 minutes feeling 3. Taking off the rose tinted glasses for a moment, the only glaring problem I’ve noticed throughout are some songs suddenly ending without a proper fade away or even end. This is somewhat distracting but saying it’s more than just a nic pick would be absurd. This is probably the most addicting album I’ve come across in this challenge and probably will stay that way, highly recommend.

[analC***fan1000]

Varg (no not the racist kung-fu murderer) of Vinesauce is always a joy to watch, along with his Italian boyfriend partner. His solo music ventures surprisingly uphold his signature humor and his infamous Super Ghostbuster project, of which is certainly halloween themed, but in lays the problem of me already going through the whole of it. The solution is Skeleton Metal, part of a trilogy of albums consisting, currently, of four. It’s thirteen minutes of what seems like Slayer influenced death metal, high pitched screams and everything. Partaking in philosophical hand scratchers like: Can skeletons fart? If skeletons are our enemies then why are they inside us? Is it morally okay to copy Alestorm? All of these he leaves up for you to decide for yourself (except the Alestorm one they were already copying other stuff before them). If you got 15 minutes to waste and wanna have a man screaming dumb skeleton jokes through a majority of it then check this out.

[analC***fan1000]

My guinea pig just died and I’m currently sobbing while writing this so I’ll just summarize me thoughts: Brave New Murder by Katatonia is an intriguing mixture of low tempo gothic-style death metal with some added psychedelic flair. It’s a strange combination of growl and even screeches with ethereal instrumentation making for an interesting listening. The last 1/3 feels a little rushed as the quality, in terms of songwriting, is not nearly as good as before. All around great album even with the flaws in the last portion.

[analC***fan1000]

Okay I know I said I wouldn’t a 2-in-1 but The Marshmallow Ghosts self-titled is forgettable to the point where the thought of covering it skipped me also me being lazy again. It tries to go for a mixture of sparse instrumental, background ambience, and a prominent focus on the vocals but the mixing makes the ambience way too loud to the point where even lyrics are hard to discern. There were some good songs but I can hardly remember, a very long 40 minutes not well spent.



On the other side, Halloween IV by Billy Cobb is fairly competent concept album in his series of festive themed surrounding the spooky season. The basic summary I could surmise is a murderer killing some guy’s girlfriend when they were kids and then years later he gets visions of her ghost telling him to come to her grave. He goes to her grave only to killed by her ghost, or atleast that’s what I could make up. The actual music is standard midwestern acoustic emo with the only outlier being track III, a more punk leaning song. From the guy who covers pop songs in punk it’s not a bad album at all.

[analC***fan1000]

Wow this guy has a goofy voice, like it sounds like a muppet giving. It sounds like a chipmunk that off 6 fentanyl laced perc 30s while going through puberty. Oh yeah also the album’s pretty good go check it out.

[analC***fan1000]

Uttering the words “First Come, First Serve by Dr. Dooom” to fans of golden age hip hop will probably conjure up the picture of the goofy album cover. A man showing a weird looking burger with an incredibly smug look on his face next to an enlarged cockroach and a gorilla, all visualized in some poorly done early photoshop is the stuff of legends. It reminds of Shotgun Justice or the later Riot albums, more known for the cover rather than the music, which is honestly kinda disheartening ‘cause the music is actually pretty good, including this album. Dr. Dooom is one of the many characters created by Kool Kieth, a mad cannibal with a focus on calling out rappers and hatred for cockroaches. Much of the play is taken up by Dooom’s misadventures in his thirst for human blood, although the gimmick isn’t sung about much apart from a few lines here and there. The rapping itself is pretty wild, a unique slightly off melody progressive flow with lyricism covering misanthropic philosophy, misogyny, weird fetishes, homophobia, pedophile, etc. obviously in a satirical nature. The beats take a backside but are still well done taking on shuffled acoustic drums and ominous sampling leading through. It amazes how underrated this still is to this day I guess proving “don’t judge a book by its cover” wrong yet again. A strong point for the near end of this challenge.

[analC***fan1000]

The FINAL day and album of the challenge, atleast for this year. Astro Creep: 2000 by White Zombie is a bizarrely wonderful mix of the psychedelic, mechanical, and the groovy with Mr. Rob’s voice adding to that. It’s a strong collection of tracks comprising B movie science fiction among the direct sampling. I honestly think it’s like an alternate universe of Prong they did weed and LSD. A very nice highlight from this month.






Aaaannnnnnddd with that comes the grand of this challenge, it was a bit more fun than what I was expecting. I've decided to comply my favorite song from all 31 albums/eps, with an extra 20 songs just for fun, in a playlist. Have a Happy Halloween and don't get tricked. except you braden fuck you for not listing to that trepalium album I sent you