South have again reinvented themselves with great results, daring to challenge the modern aesthetically-led audience to look beneath appearances for the goods.
Geoff Tate has stayed true to his longstanding disdain for metal and delivered a record that is dark, complicated, true to the spirit of Operation Mindcrime.
This oompa metal classic takes the keg. I dare you to play “Happy Little Boozer” and not play it again. The refrain is hollered by Vikings until all are happy.
As usual, the music is formulaic, but with every album, you’re never let down. The vocals continue to evolve into a cleaner sound, and the production is superb.
Ripper gets to run his own ship. A cool first step, a measure of variety, but maybe just a bit too grimly clanking and double bass-barraged for my liking.
On Some Echoes, the band don’t look to conquer new territory as much as expand upon what they’ve already cultivated: Less virtuosity and more memorability.
Witchfinder General’s stock has grown over the 23 years they’ve been embalmed & becalmed like that icy dame in the gate of We Sold our Soul for Rock ‘n’ Roll.