Wednesday 13 "Transylvania 90210 - Songs of Death, Dying, and the Dead" CD
[Roadrunner]
I guess this is considered a "solo" outing, as the band is named after its "leader", Murderdolls vocalist Wednesday 13. I've never heard the Murderdolls, but (perhaps unjustly) based on this effort I'm guessing I wouldn't like 'em, because this is kind of boring. It's just straightforward, lightly groovy metal with sneering vocals that aren't sung but also aren't shouted or yelled or anything like that. At times it's melodic and catchy, bordering on "poppy" elements in songs like "I Walked With a Zombie" (flirting with some sort of weird horror/modern cock rock niche), and it does tend to retain a rock vibe (especially the lead runs - check out "Buried By Christmas"), but... I'm just not into it. Part of the problem is that the recording's really clinical, so the drums are rigid, the guitars have a weird sheen that makes them feel unnatural, and the bass tends to get lost, so... it should sound warmer and more natural in my opinion. I'm also not into this kind of subject matter/aesthetic, though I wouldn't care if the songs were well written. That's not to say the songs suck, they don't, but they are on the bland side. If they were a little faster/more energetic and the band used a more organic set of tones I could imagine sort of liking it, but... I'll be honest in that I'm not clear on why this record exists. Were it self-financed by Wednesday 13 I could make sense of it, but I'm surprised Roadrunner foot the bill to put this thing out. The chorus of "House By the Cemetery" is pretty damn good, I have to say, but what about overly groovy junk like portions of "I Want You... Dead"? Without the annoying guitar effects and groovy stuff that song would be a fast paced rocker rather than a 50/50 four-minute piece that falls a bit short. The other thing that gets me, and this seems to be a common problem with bands of this general nature (those very overly concerned with image and such), is that the record is too fucking long. I mean, come on... 14 songs and over 50 minutes? No way. Stick with 10 tracks, 40 minutes or so: Done. Leave it alone, you know? Don't beat people over the head with filler, try to make your mark and move along. Thankfully they don't overuse samples, though. Yeah, a few such passages materialize, but... very scarcely, which is handled in good taste considering the horror aesthetic and stuff. Despite striking me as a pretty significant ripoff of White Zombie meets the Misfits, I will confess that the layout does look pretty damn good, with plenty of classic horror movie aesthetics, nice text arrangements, a consistent color scheme, etc. I'm not into that whole "image" shtick, but... it does make more sense with a band like this. Lyrics? "A bullet in your head is how I want it. Your body on the floor - a Kodak moment. You're a waste of air and a waste of space. I want sharp objects to fly into your face..." No thanks. I've gotta pass on this stuff overall. It's not a one-sided record since there are some slower and darker tracks, and those hinting at a punk rock side (in a Ramones/Sex Pistols way, that is), but I just can't get into it. It could've been significantly worse, but I actually kind of thought it might be a little more interesting than it actually is for whatever reason. Oh well. (4/10)
Running time - 51:06, Tracks: 14
[Notable tracks: House By the Cemetery]
Roadrunner Records - http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com

This review has been displayed 6785 times.