Church of Misery have been one of my favorite bands and my favorite stoner doom band for a while. It is hard to describe what makes a genre like stoner doom work, when it is so formulaic on paper. But similarly to how the average person perceives death metal as pure noise, there are nuances that you can only pick up on if you are a genre expert; when you are so invested in a genre that the ways a piece is different is more important than the many ways it is the same. Church of Misery eschew the drug obsessed and occult lyrics of most stoner acts, instead focusing on serial killers, cult leaders and general psychopathy. It helps color the music: The sludgy, bluesy guitars become enigmatic of a desert more as a gigantic burial ground, a place to hide bodies and a place to die in than a cool place to hangout and drive a truck. Church of Misery‘s music has always followed suit, incoporating documentary sound samples into heavily distorted psychedelic sections, contrasting with the groovy riff fests that are the bulk of the songs.
Born Under a Mad Sign is no exception. While the album starts maybe a bit more modern than I am used to – John Allen Muhammad is a more recent case and the documentary used therefore post-millenial – it is undeniable that Church of Misery do what they do best. The riffs might be a bit more solid this time around – particularly the opener stomps with an almost hardcore groove. Yet, Church of Misery don’t abandon the blues and stay true to the drunken bar brawl meets jam session energy that their music always had. Some new elements find their way into the tracks, as well. New and returning vocalist Kazuhiro Aesada sings in a surprisingly intelligible manner for the band, likely being inspired by Scott Carlson‘s short stint on the previous record, which had made the songs surprisingly catchy. With this, the songs appear slightly more song-driven. Aesada had previously sung on Mikami‘s side project Sonic Flower, which focused on straight-up 70s rock. I feel that this new album takes some subtle inspiration from Sonic Flower, including some 70s Prog inspired counterpoint lines and organ in a song each. While I would be happy with just more Church of Misery, it is good to know that the band is still trying and doing things that feel somewhat new. And even if the band doesn’t deliver anything that rivals their best output, it has been a while since I found stoner so creative and joyfully played.
