Russ Hockenbury
07/26/06, 02:35 PM
Vena Amori – The Seduction of An American Housewife
Release Date: May 2, 2006
Label: The Death Scene
I once read about a metal band that boasted a pit bull as their lead vocalist. An actual pit bull. Novelty or whatever, one of the humans in the band justified the choice by saying that metal/hardcore vocalists had been trying to mimic the sound of animals for years. This was just a natural progression. He’s got a point. Hardcore bands have been barking since the days of Fugazi and bullfroggery isn’t just confined to death metal anymore. Having made inroads into more popular hard labels these days.
Staying in the animal kingdom, is the latest release from The Death Scene’s Vena Amori. Give them credit, vocalist Justin Osbourn didn’t come with the same old croak. Instead, opting for the high-pitched squeal of a pig to be his calling card. A pig that somehow found its way into the helium storage facility across the street and is now choking on the mylar balloons that lay next to the empty tanks. Pigs will eat anything.
The Seduction of An American Housewife continues the “true” (I can find nothing to support this account anywhere on the Net) story of Richard Allen Dalton and the sadistic 1968 murders of his family and adulterous friend. In terms of fashion, concept albums are music’s version of the white belt. Vena Amori plow through the somewhat interesting story over horrorcore riffs, pounding drums, and dark melodies proficiently enough. Somehow they manage to fit in a Shellac cover along the way. Points for that, if nothing else.
In the end, Osbourn’s vox either make or break this record for the listener. Fans of the more accomplished squealers in From Autumn to Ashes or Atreyu might actually go for Osbourn’s exercise in vocal torture. Punknews even credited it as the band’s only saving grace on their 2005 EP, not surprisingly titled Richard Allen Dalton. Obsess much? Personally, Dalton ends up dying in a sanitarium at the conclusion of Seduction and I can only hope porkchops were his last meal.
Let the bodies hit the floor: “How Can Things Possibly Get Any Worse”, “Marylin Merlot”
The sound of animals dying: Atreyu, Darkest Hour, Vulger Pigeons
Release Date: May 2, 2006
Label: The Death Scene
I once read about a metal band that boasted a pit bull as their lead vocalist. An actual pit bull. Novelty or whatever, one of the humans in the band justified the choice by saying that metal/hardcore vocalists had been trying to mimic the sound of animals for years. This was just a natural progression. He’s got a point. Hardcore bands have been barking since the days of Fugazi and bullfroggery isn’t just confined to death metal anymore. Having made inroads into more popular hard labels these days.
Staying in the animal kingdom, is the latest release from The Death Scene’s Vena Amori. Give them credit, vocalist Justin Osbourn didn’t come with the same old croak. Instead, opting for the high-pitched squeal of a pig to be his calling card. A pig that somehow found its way into the helium storage facility across the street and is now choking on the mylar balloons that lay next to the empty tanks. Pigs will eat anything.
The Seduction of An American Housewife continues the “true” (I can find nothing to support this account anywhere on the Net) story of Richard Allen Dalton and the sadistic 1968 murders of his family and adulterous friend. In terms of fashion, concept albums are music’s version of the white belt. Vena Amori plow through the somewhat interesting story over horrorcore riffs, pounding drums, and dark melodies proficiently enough. Somehow they manage to fit in a Shellac cover along the way. Points for that, if nothing else.
In the end, Osbourn’s vox either make or break this record for the listener. Fans of the more accomplished squealers in From Autumn to Ashes or Atreyu might actually go for Osbourn’s exercise in vocal torture. Punknews even credited it as the band’s only saving grace on their 2005 EP, not surprisingly titled Richard Allen Dalton. Obsess much? Personally, Dalton ends up dying in a sanitarium at the conclusion of Seduction and I can only hope porkchops were his last meal.
Let the bodies hit the floor: “How Can Things Possibly Get Any Worse”, “Marylin Merlot”
The sound of animals dying: Atreyu, Darkest Hour, Vulger Pigeons