Thank God- er- Satan for this re-release
Nails in My Head | 05/31/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It's been ten years now since the first release of The Electric Hellfire Club's magnum opus Kiss the Goat. It was a mature yet humorous, harsh yet beautiful, and the last contribution of the electric genious Dr. Luv. It starts off with the brilliantly heavy "HELLFIRE!", pointing to the new direction the EHC was taking with the album: Darker, louder, more Sturm und Drang. The album really takes off with "In the Temple of Flesh", though. Clever Indian sampling, psychoactive guitars, and a great length. Amazing that such energry could last more than three minutes...
A stamina proved again on "Slaughter of Elysium". This song defies traditional song structure, and really stomps along. A fun track. Then comes "Incubus", one of may favorite songs of all time. Here the electronics overpower the guitar oriented work that dominated the start of the album.
After lots of anger previously unstressed with the Electric Hellfire Club, we calm down for "Evil Genious (Queen of Sin)" Some of the best lyrical work on the album, and the most beuatiful song ever to appear via EHC. This song alone is worth the price of admission.
"Love is the Law" is full of unexpressed rage. The whole song is like one big build from the soft electronic ear-candy of "Queen of Sin", with insidious background loops. Then the song gives way to the incredibly dark "Jack the Knife", the darkest song of the album. The vocals are distorted into a wrathful fuzz, with many disturbing musical layers behind them.
Then spiraling down we go with "Bitchcraft", a soft song with Sabrina Satana singing. Short, and reminiscent of film-noir.
"Night of the Buck Knives" is the second serial killer song on Kiss the Goat, reinforcing that this release is not Burn Baby Burn at all. Yet the synth denies the lyrics, perhaps trying to emphasise the LSD used in the Manson murders.
After well more than what one would expect from an album, come the supposed final track, "Kiss the Goat". It is like a ritual, a closing hymn after all that came before.
The album would end, but this is the re-release! You get a remix of hellfire, and a Kiss the Goat-itized Burn Baby Burn song.
If that wasn't enough, wait a few minutes after the end of the last song and you get a Charles in Charge theme song cover. Despite the darkness in Kiss the Goat, these guys still have a sense of humor.
Bravo to EHC for a grand re-release that was badly needed."
The Osculum Infame...
Jeffrey A. Hopson | Garland, TX USA | 06/14/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"...or the "kiss of shame", was, in medieval times, the act by which the devotee of the Devil would kiss the hind quarters of said Devil (in guise of a black goat) thereby sealing their allegiance to Satan and His evil. The Electric Hellfire Club are a (sometimes)no-nonsense, up-front, unapologetic Satanic band who shirk not their affiliation with Dr. Anton LaVey's notorious Church of Satan; Front demon/Lead vocalist/founder/chief sorceror/song-writer/programmer Thomas Thorn is an ordained "Reverend" in the Diabolical Diocese known as the Church of $atan. His henchmen include such mainstays as Six-string sorceror Herr Ricktor Ravensbruck and Goddess of Thunder Sabrina Satana on bass guitar and backing (and occasionally lead) vocals, forming the nucleus of the band which sounds the apocalyptic air-raid sirens for the new Satanic Age. I've chosen Kiss the Goat as the quintessential EHC work to date because it represents the most prolific page in Hellfire History due in part to songs dedicated to Kali (the Indian Goddess of Sex and Death in)in "In The Temple of Flesh", "Hellfire!", Evil Genius (Queen of Sin) in which Sabrina spins her Satanic web, and then there's the glorious "Pray to Satan" chant that leads off the title cut, "Kiss the Goat" to close the cd, or so you think...if you have the new re-issue you get a bonus track after the player tracks thru a few blank tracks...I'll leave it a surprise! The new re-issue features "cleaned up artwork, as the old original version had a very darkened cover art with purple foil logo/letters, whereas the reissue brightened up the artwork so the cool detail can be discerned, and they dispensed with the shiney foil letters in favor of simply a purple matte print. This is, in my opinion, the quintessential EHC disc and the one any fan of the band from Hell should not be without!
Forget....no....DELETE the imposters. The Electric Hellfire Club are the real deal America! Hail the Dawning of the Age of Fire!!! Hail Hellfire!!!
"