Doom Metal Masters No More
Chris | St. Louis, MO | 06/03/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As is written elsewhere, this is the last full length release from the Finnish doom-metal masters.
This is a double CD and both discs have close to 70 minutes of pure doom-metal goodness (or darkness I suppose) to keep the listener enthralled.
If you like and miss the Reverend, just buy this album. Yes, it's expensive, and yes it is certainly worth it!"
The Reverend Bizarre
Cube | 10/26/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The Reverend Bizarre has put out spectacular doom rock on all of their albums. This is a classic traditional doom rock group. The Reverend's vocal's are incredibly sharp and clean. You won't find non-understandble lyrics in this groups songs. I understand clearly every word with little effort. Their music may seem right over the top. But their dark magic drenched lyrics will have you envision a burning pentagram at a midnight mass.
The songs are bass heavy and have a dark feel to them. They are pessimistic but leave this listener feeling good.
Reverend Bizarre's current album, So Long Suckers, is not for the fan with a limited attention span. The 1st CD is full of long songs. Each song averages 20-30 minutes. Too long in my view to fully keep the listeners attention. I like slow doom bands well enough, and have collected all of YOB's albums for example. The 1st CD off the latest one by the Reverend Bizarre pushes the limit of endurance of the listener. The riffs, beat and vocals on the album are great. But the songs are repetitive and do drag. I believe that the songs are very good they just just go on too long for my tastes.
Fortunately the 2nd CD has more life in it then the 1st CD. The songs move along and have more hook in them to grab the listener. They are not as long in duration then then the songs of the 1st CD. They pick up the pace to inject more energy. I enjoyed it and the song, Caesar is Forever about Romans burning early Christians is the type of song that fans expect from the Reverend Bizarre. It puts you in the mind set of the Romans. Who need to capture and punish the heretic Christians. Talk about about seeing things from the flip side! Choked with depression and dread with self righteousness of the perspective of violent fanatics, this music is highly entertaining.
The Reverend Bizarre has a special place in my music collection. I only rate this with 4 stars because the other albums by this group are stronger. But I feel lucky to have got to know this music.
Earlier albums of this group should fit well with fans who collect and relish the early works of Black Sabbath. Their song,"The Devil Rides Out" off Crush the Insects, is among the best of the best from this outfit. My favorite other songs of this group include, " Doom Over the World" , "_ucking Wizard" and "Strange Horizons" There are other gems found in their collection of previous albums as well.
If your into Saint Vitus ,Black Sabbath, Earthride, Candle Mass, Goatsnake and Internal Void as I am? If so you will appreciate the Reverend Bizarre. I choose Crush the Insects as the best Reverend Bizarre Album.
The song, "Strange Horizons" off the album Harbinger of Metal just sends me into to a doom metal euphoria and is amazing.
There is another double CD album of Reverend Bizarre besides the current So Long Suckers, and is called, In the Rectory. It is a slow and plodding creation of depressing bass drenched sounds. I mean that in a good way. The Reverend Bizarre is similar to artists such as the mighty Saint Vitus along with Internal Void, Candle Mass, Goatsnake and other classic doomers.
A little known Reverend Bizarre album is Slice of Doom which is outstanding. It has rare versions and early recordings of the band. Its raw and unrefined but well worth obtaining. I was very pleased when I found it.
I don't believe So Long Suckers, is the best work of these worthy musicians. But I still like it very much. I am glad to own this album and it has stayed parked in my truck's stereo for many a week now. My advice is that you check out this rock group's music.
If your new to the Reverend Bizarre I suggest you start with Crush the Insects and then Harbinger of Metal. If your tastes are similar to mine then you will want to collect all of this impressive artist's works.
The truly sad thing about this album for me is that it is the artist's swain song. The group has broken up and moved on to different projects. They will never be forgotten by me. Long live the Reverend Bizarre's music. I wish very much that I had the chance to see them live. Being a Finish rock band they mostly toured in Europe. I have seen some clips on youtube.com and their shows that look freaking amazing."
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1