A long seven years since Lillie F-65 and here comes Saint Vitus, another self-titled release out of nowhere from US doom legends Saint Vitus. I mean, you would think any new release from these dirge laden veterans would be dropped with plenty of fanfare, but there is it, quietly sitting in my promo inbox from Season of Mist, ready to be consumed, nine new tracks from the line-up of Dave Chandler (guitar), Scott Readers (vocals), Pat Bruders (bass), and Henry Vasquez (drums).
So, how is the album? Well, there's obviously some great material here, chock full of Chandler's mammoth, fuzz laden riffing, such as the mighty "Wormhole" (complete with psychotic, screaming wah-wah leads), "Bloodshed", the stoner-ific "Hour Glass", the slow, crushing "Remains", and the lengthy, lumbering "Last Breath", each one hitting high on the doom richter scale. Not quite sure why "Useless" was tossed in here, a brief punk styled garage number, and the pleasantly titled but not quite so successful "12 Years in the Tomb" tries hard but doesn't quite reach the heights it could have. "A Prelude to..." kinda sounds like The Doors meets Danzig, but drags, and "City Park" is basically four minutes of sound effects...or, filler for lack of a better term.
So, half vintage style Saint Vitus doom, the other half, well, just ok. The good stuff though is worth the price of admission, so if you are a fan you'll certainly want to scoop this up.
Track Listing
1. Remains (6:23)
2. A Prelude to... (3:20)
3. Bloodshed (3:04)
4. 12 Years In The Tomb (5:24)
5. Wormhole (5:22)
6. Hour Glass (5:23)
7. City Park (4:01)
8. Last Breath (6:38)
9. Useless (1:32)
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