Alucard – Vamp City Rockers

Sharpen your fangs and rev those engines, Alucard is on the prowl with their debut full length, Vamp City Rockers.  The Nashville TN trio fits right into that shadowy field of horror rock tracing its lineage back to The Misfits, marauding onward alongside current acts like Boney Fiend, The Epidemic, and Horrorwood Ending.  They’ve got that vintage rock ‘n roll swagger so many horror acts strive for, embracing their type-cast persona with unquenched hunger.

Alucard is first and foremost a horror band and they make no small effort to hide it.  The disc opens with a Transylvanian accented “velcome,” and gets right to work with energetic tunes about the dark arts.  “Her Resurrection” jangles along with the tingy tale about avenging love through selling one’s soul to “the prince of darkness” as of means of retribution for bloody murder.  The song rattles along at an assailing pace, propelled by hail of steadily throbbing drumbeats.  “Deathproof,” and “Dracula’s Revenge” carry forth the same speedy melodic rhythms and dark themes, always careful to never take them selves too seriously.

On that note, Alucard always peaks when the group is having the most fun – particularly the bounciest tunes which pay homage to their 50’s horror classic inspirations.  For instance, “Just Buried” begs listeners’ to tap along in time, precisely matching the slicked back, greaser-esque, fang-sporting image on the front cover.   With much the same ambiance “Dark Passenger” and “Vamp Rock Woman” emerge a couple tracks later, floating in on a fog of stylized “woahs” cushioning the foundation of dirty, crunchy guitars.  When the band holds back in tempo, the vocals escalate in force, each brooding syllable sounding as if the fatally calculated plan of a cold hearted psychopath.  The whole disc has a pretty gritty recording feel, but it never puts a damper on their infectious energy.

Lyrically, Vamp City Rockers treads close to their old stomping ground, sparing no expense at their tales of vampires, werewolves, and ghouls.  Tracks reference pop-culture heavyweights Tales From The Crypt (“Tales From The Crypt”), and American Psycho serial killer Patrick Bateman (“Bateman”) with satisfying, accompanying commentary.  Alucard never pushes the envelope (there’s certainly room for growth here), but always gets the source material right, balancing dark themes with grim humour.

In the end, Alucard’s debut stands apart on energy, although not so much on originality.  Horror punks have likely heard much of this before, but that doesn’t prevent Vamp City Rockers from getting it right.  From the wailing melodic howls to the classic source material, an encounter with Alucard is sure to wet the fangs of horror fans everywhere.