Church of Misery – Born Under a Mad Sign
Reviewed: June, 2023
Released: 2023, Rise Above Records
Rating: 4/5
Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz
Much like the swing of an assassin’s blade lunging towards the gullet of an unsuspecting victim, so swing the riffs on Church of Misery’s latest musical murderer’s row, BORN UNDER A MAD SIGN. 7 years removed since their last outing, AND THEN THERE WERE NONE…and creatively bolstered by 2 years of virus induced isolation, Tatsu Mikami’s back with a new cast of supporting characters (including some old familiars) and 7 new tracks of serial killer doom.
At its core, BORN UNDER A MAD SIGN is tried and true Church of Misery – fuzzy doom riffs swamped in a fog of head bobbin’ true crime swagger. The outfit has always been propelled by engines of Sabbathian instrumentation, but BORN UNDER A MAD SIGN leans much heavier into the Sabs late 70’s period of exploratory jams than the typical sludge tropes of the first 3 albums. And that’s what differentiates a good Church of Misery album from a great Church of Misery album. Whereas their earlier material can sometimes feel like the riffs are an obligatory vehicle to tell their tales of the macabre, the booming groove of “Spoiler” and rightfully boogie filled “Freeway Madness Boogie” display a much stronger and memorable song construct this time around. Tracks like “Come and Get Me Sucker” rocks hard enough to sound like it could’ve been a Clutch b-side, while “Murder Castle Blues” shows the band stretching their creative legs and really letting the riffs guide the journey.
Making the occasion even more special is the return of original vocalist Kazuhiro Asaeda, who fronted Church of Misery on their earliest demos and last made an appearance on 2007’s VOL. 1. Of the plentiful contenders who’ve fronted the band over the last 28 years, there’s a swooning charisma to Asaeda’s raspy crooning that compliments the tunes accordingly and simply put, just feels right. In the press materials supporting BORN UNDER A MAD SIGN, Mikami states “…I don’t just need good riffs. I need the BEST riffs!” and follows it up with “this is undoubtedly the best record in Church of Misery history.” To that I can only say “mission accomplished, my dude.” BORN UNDER A MAD SIGN is better than I ever expected it could/would be, and Church of Misery are already tearing up stages across Europe in support of the record. Turn down the lights, turn up your speakers, and worship at the Church of Misery.
Videos:
Track List:
1. Beltway Sniper (John Allen Muhammed)
2. Most Evil (Fritz Harmann)
3. Freeway Madness Boogie (Randy Kraft)
4. Murder Castle Blues (H. H. Holmes)
5. Spoiler
6. Come and Get Me Sucker (David Koresh)
7. Butcher Baker (Robret Hansen)
Tatsu Mikami – Bass
Kazuhiro Asaeda – Vocals
Toshiaki Umemura – Drums
Yukito Okazaki – Guitars
www.facebook.com/churchofmiserydoom/
