Viva Death - Curse the Darkness

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June 2010 marked the long-awaited release of Viva Death's Curse the Darkness. In the interest of full-disclosure, I'm a charter member of the Death Squad, so this review is not totally unbiased. That said, I think I can still be fair and objective.

I've got to say that this was probably the album I was anticipating most this year (aside from maybe the new Face to Face album), in part due to the fact that it has existed in raw form for almost two years before it saw the light of day. Recorded in 2008 in California, Curse the Darkness marks a departure from the overlying theme of the first two VD albums, 2002's self-titled release and 2006's One Percent Panic. Gone are Josh Freese's drums, the dueling baritone guitars of Trever Keith (Face to Face) and Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters, Jackson United, Me First...this is a long list...), and Keith's unmistakable vocal stylings. That sounds on the surface like an awful lot to remove, but Viva Death has always been the brainchild of Scott Shiflett (Face to Face), and Curse the Darkness is the ultimate in one-man musical expression. It finds Shiflett aided only by guitars (the baritone-only rule of the last two VD albums has been cast aside), bass guitars, drums, and his right-hand man, Chad Blinman (he of the incredibly heavy [literally] Eye Socket studio) who continues to pull brilliant "keyboards, samples and other weirdness" out of the stratosphere.

Here's a track-by-track rundown...

1. The Life You Save (May Be Your Own). One of the more "Viva Death-y" songs on the album, TLYS features the trademark baritone sound, which has always reminded me of surf music as played by zombies...or the soundtrack to a movie about surfing zombies...or something like that. Hypnotic, plodding guitar riff. Double time hi-hats. Shiflett kicking the album off very appropriately by asking the listener to "Come away, come away, come with me." This album is certainly a ride, and this is a brilliant way to start that journey. And then, all of a sudden, the 1:41 mark comes up and, what's this, a tasty, metalicious guitar solo, complete with dive bomb sounds that would wake Eddie Van Halen from whatever morphine-induced fog he's been in for the last twenty years?!?!? Yeah, this album is going to be different.

2. Impact. "Now what's wrong with having a little fun?" is the question that is posed to the listener at the :11 mark, just prior to the song taking off. Very straight-forward, aggressive track through the verses. Pre-chorus sounds almost like a car crash (that's a good thing), then the chorus gets angular and echoy and trippy..."I can't see anything at all/I can't hear anything at all/I can't feel anything at all" is the line from the album that I find getting stuck in my head most.

3. Bullets Under Mind Control. More zombie-surfer guitar with very echoy vocals layered over double-time, marchy drums. I eat this stuff up. Another trademark song (not unlike White Car or Desire Us A Flood in that sense). "Don't say something that you might regret/Keep bullets under mind control" is advice we could all probably heed a little more than we do now. That one sticks in the head too.

4. Love Lust Trust. The album's first real left turn. One of the two songs featuring anyone other than Shiflett or Blinman, this one center's on noted tabla player Satnam Singh Ramgotra (Beck, Sting, etc). More echoy vocals, with the occasional weird keyboard fill. "Love, lust, trust" is repeated in purposely monotone, hypnotic style that makes this song come across as very futuristic and tribal at the same time.

5. Everything's Tic-Toc. Sort of a punch in the face beginning at the immediate end of Love Lust Trust. Airy harmonic guitar gives way to big arena rock riff for the chorus, and the two battle for supremacy for the rest of the song...until the outro which is very spacey and features a cleaned up, Zeppelin-ish riff over some some of the stranger samples that Blinman has pulled out of his bag of tricks. "You will get a job...you will be working" comes across very hauntingly.

6. Villain. Villain finds Shiflett playing "the role of villain, direct from 1957," prompting legions of Death Squaders to Google "what happened in 1957?". 1957, it seems, did have its share of villains. Cold war escalating? Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his cousin? Little Rock Nine? The Dodgers and Giants leaving New York for greener pastures in California? Probably the most straight-forward rock song of the album.

7. Freeze. Another song that certainly fits the VD mold. Up-tempo, riff heavy verse. I dig the layered acoustic over the chorus, which includes a certain vein of optimism ("If this is the life, I'm dead") that I appreciate =^) Around 2:10 the song changes...starting with another scorching guitar solo, this one longer than on TLYS. Third verse is more uptempo, and the way the vocals are layered lends an almost choral sound. Two minute-or-so outro features a lot of guitar soloing that is sadly disappearing in most rock music, and has been for years. It also gives fans of Shiflett's work in Face To Face a chance to see just how talented and multi-faceted a musician he really is. Gets very trippy and atmospheric again at the end...

8. Talking Backwards. Brilliantly placed "You are now prepared for the next step of your indoctrination...which whill be most difficult" from Blinman's extensive sound clip collection kicks off the album's second real left turn. Very fast, tribal sounding drums serve as the background for a plodding march of a guitar riff and Shiflett's almost whispery baritone vocals for the duration of the song, met during the chorus by the inimitable Monica Richards (Faith and the Muse). The differences in vocal stylings make the song very dynamic, if not for the faint of heart.

9. Out of Reach. This song sounds like it could have been either a Face to Face outtake or drawn from recording sessions for the last Jackson United album. Straight-forward rocker. Layered acoustic over the electric parts. More great, non-baritone guitar work. I quite like this song. Another extended outro that becomes lighter and airier as it progresses.

10. In Search Of Space Boy. Another big sounding song that really epitomizes the Viva Death sound. Layered baritone guitars, layered echoy vocals during the verses, riff heavy chorus. Keeps building and building as it goes. This song would fill up an arena amazingly live...if only...

11. It's Like This. Very trippy. Swirling (backwards??) guitars that at times remind me of Pearl Jam's MFC. Airy layered vocals. I love the line "no one can beat a drum so loud that you can't hear your own heart beat."

12. Wisdom. This may be my favorite song on the album. I love the double-time feel of the main guitar riff as it mirrors the drum track. Lyrics present as very "bad religion," anti-Fundamentalist, anti-establishment (a running theme through much of the VD catalog). Great song.

13. Crutch. Interesting way to end the album. Atmospheric, acoustic ballad, but doesn't come across as sappy or pretentious like a lot of hard rock acts that try to do the acoustic thing. Maybe because the album (and the VD catalog in general) takes enough side roads that it doesn't feel unnatural like this. Interesting final line..."If all I did was lame/ Leaving here, I'll take the blame." Hopefully not Shiflett looking back negatively on the VD project, which has probably now seen its last incarnation.

Many long-awaited albums fail to live up to their expectations. This is not one of those albums. I'm glad Scott forged ahead and actually put the album out, albeit non-traditionally (instructions on where to obtain it are available at www.vivadeath.com - preferred site is Bandcamp). It is also a little bittersweet, knowing that this, in all likelihood, is the last VD album and doubly bittersweet knowing that none of it will ever be played live. A shame really, because this album especially is "big" enough to fill most any venue. At different times post-industrial and post-punk but with a sound that is a logical progression from 1970s hard rock, Curse The Darkness easily found its way onto the short list of my favorite albums of 2010. Stellar jobs, Scott and Chad.