Blitzkid – 5 Cellars Down

While I don’t know too much about Force Fiend Records, the few bands I’ve heard by them have always entertained me. They’re carefully trying to breathe new live into the psychobilly/horror punk scene – and are doing a damn good job at it. It pretty much means that every time you see the skull sporting the Danzig hair style on the back of the disc, you know what to expect. A solid, erie, psychobilly release. But with Blitzkid‘s 5 Cellars Down, the label seems to have outdone themselves.

5 Cellars Down does fit perfectly within the Force Fiend catalogue, after all, they definitely are bringing a solid punch of horror punk for you to devour; but they’ve been able to take it a step a head of the label’s recent efforts. The vocals have a very distinctive feel to them,thanks in part to the hollowness of the echo and the help of the occasional background singers. There’s the distinctive wail of the psychobilly vocals, and a steady backbone being fed through the standup base.

But while they do follow the psychobilly formula quite well, they’ve taken it upon themselves to create a little niche for themselves too. Making it so that not every song sounds the same and blur together, instead all the tracks have their own identity. Black Mountain Backstep is a short, fast, fist pumping punk rock song to introduce the album, A Blind Bargain follows it up with a venomous angst and vocals that are spat at you the way Davey Havoc did on some older releases. Starlite Decay brings in the pop sensibilities of the likes of The Horrorpops while Terror In The Haunted House takes some cues from The Matadors. Carve Out A Heart is an epic release that builds in anticipation and molds new AFI with the likes of I Am Ghost. And somehow, the closing moments of Midnight Mile remind me of a more evilBouncing Souls.

It is these differences between the tracks that are able to make 5 Cellars Down stand out and be more memorable. It successfully ushers in the rebirth of the psychobilly soundtrack; and yes, the lyrics are quite devilish, so no need to worry there.