Calabrese – Lust For Sacrilege

The sixth full length from the Phoenix trio is their first new material since 2013’s Born With A Scorpion’s Touch, and sees their hook laden, broody take on punk rock hit new heights. The sound created by Calabrese brothers Bobby (Guitars/Vocals), Jimmy (Bass/Vocals) and Davey (Drums) invite inevitable comparisons to Glenn Danzig and The Misfits, but in reality probably owe more to the likes of Elvis and 80’s goth bands like Lords of the New Church and Nick Cave & The Bad Sees.

The record kicks off with the atmospheric anthem The Dark is Who I am uings the classic quiet/loud dynamic to excellent effect. The vocals are soaring, the guitars are swirling and driving at the same time while the bass and drums hold everything together.

Down in Misery, Teenage Crimewave and Lust For Sacrilege all liven up the pace into classic punk rock territory and the album is all the better for it. The excellent guitar work from Bobby Calabrese really stands out and all three of these tracks come across like a sonic assault on the senses making it impossible to pick a winner out of these outstanding efforts.

Gimme War and Lords Of The Wasteland take the album up another level with their frantic garage rock riffs, pounding back end and desperate vocals, and with each clocking in around 2 minutes they end far too quickly.

Wanted Man, Flesh and Blood, Serpentflame, New York Ripper are all decent songs, but I felt myself urging the band to just ‘get on with it’. I understand the balance on the record and appreciation for that develops on multiple listens, but at the moment I just want to go back and listen to Lords of the Wasteland again!

The album is brought to a close with the stripped down acoustic driven Drift Into Dust, the perfect companion to The Dark Is Who I Am. A quite beautiful tale about the inevitable end of life.

It would be easy to dismiss Calabrese as one of many imitators of The Misfits currently plying their trade, but the reality is that Calabrese are a completely different type proposition and to write them off as an imitator is doing them a complete disservice. Lust For Sacrilege contains elements of punk, blues, garage, goth and straight up rock and roll which they spin together into a completely unique package. I really can’t categorise this, other than to say I fucking love it.