I’m writing this review with just a touch of trepidation. While I absolutely loved everything about this album, I especially dug the vocals from Luci4, who is no longer in the band. She delivered a perfect combination of powerful, melodic vocals with deeply sinister undertones. Her replacement, Zoey Phoenix has her work cut out for her, but from what I’ve heard she’ll likely be just fine.
On to the rest of the band. Mr. Peach on rhythm guitar and Aimee Violet on drums are the mainstays, while frequent LBD contributor Steve Lethal served as lead guitarist, bass player, producer, and engineer. Busy guy! The playing on the album solidly supports the horror metal vibe, lots of metal mixed with heavy doses of punk and goth.
Born to Play on VHS
While researching this review, I gave LBD‘s 2019 release Born to Die on VHS a spin. Trevor “Psychoone” McDougall reviewed it last year and agreed that it’s a freaky and fun album. The close relationship the band maintains with film on that album is obvious — it was primarily a covers album of horror movie songs — but The Witching Hour takes it to the next level.
As of the publication date, Lesbian Bed Death have released videos for “The Witching Hour“, “Breakfast as Tisiphone’s“, “Vampires“, and “The Scorpion“. There’s another one coming soon, and I have every reason to believe it’ll be for “Bring Out Your Dead“. Each one is a mini horror film that complements the songs. On his blog, Mr. Peach admitted “I’m also an amateur filmmaker. I wrote, directed, edited, and co-produced our 2020 music video ‘Born To Die On VHS’. I’m learning all the time, and it’s something that I’m really enjoying at the moment.” With videos like this, the many horror movie/metal fans of the world are all reaping the rewards.
“The Witching Hour” is a dark and creepy song where the video tells the story of a seemingly experienced, but young witch stirring up some shit with the devil. The slow burn of it hooked me in April when it was a featured Beaver Buzz track. It also made the top 30 of 2021 so far show, which you can catch on Mixcloud (someday).
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljyyS1UulGQ[/embedyt]
“Vampires” is an unexpected down-tempo song that embraces more of the Sisters of Mercy side of LBD than the Danzig side. The video is set in a world where vampires are another marginalized group. They get treated like shit because they’re different. Sounds a little weird, but it can really hit you in the feels.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO2FxVutQcA[/embedyt]
“Breakfast at Tisiphone’s” was also a Beaver Buzz track, this time in June. The video starts by explaining how invoking Tisiphone came to mean to curse your enemies. Damn, you would not want to be on the other end of this curse. Luci4 absolutely nails the pure spite needed for Tisiphone-level enmity.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEQJX4e4CW4[/embedyt]
LBD pulls it all together in “The Scorpion“. The song itself is an absolute rocker with Aimee Violet bringing the thunder, some of the best guitars on the album, and thick layers of brooding keyboards. The vocals from Luci4 are exactly what the song calls for, potent and sneering. Of the witch trilogy of videos (including “The Witching Hour” and “Breakfast at Tisiphone’s“), “The Scorpion” is the creepiest and seems to be the most well done from a film making perspective — but what do I know, I’m a music reviewer.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOoXj7MhaEU[/embedyt]
14 Tracks, Each Worth Your Time
Lesbian Bed Death generously serves up 14 songs without a clunker in the bunch. This is great horror rock, with influences from Danzig and Sisters of Mercy, to guitar forward bands like Dokken and L.A. Guns, to the darker sides of The Cramps and T.S.O.L. I’ll touch on a few other highlights, but just bear in mind The Witching Hour is 100% worth your investment.
If you are a giant Halloween nerd like me, you have a Halloween playlist that needs some new blood. I give you “Bring Out Your Dead“. It’s a fast and furious ode to All Hallows’ Eve and my fingers are crossed that it’s the next video.
“Chucky” and “Sabrina” are perfect for their subjects. The lines in “Chucky” are hilarious, just like the character. “You better believe that he’s not your fuckin’ buddy” and “He’s from the 80s and he’s ready to kill” are so Chucky. In “Sabrina” LBD really plug into the darker side of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which I think lines up more with her most recent character. I’ve never seen it, but if it’s anything like this song, I’m in.
“Tears of the Gods” is slower and a bit closer to the more new wave goth influences. Luci4 sounds great on this one with a more bluesy take. But if that’s not your thing, just crank up the thick riffs from “Toxic“.
Final Thoughts
I’d heard a few singles before I loaded the early peek tracks and knew I’d be in for a treat. I wasn’t disappointed. Lesbian Bed Death really hits the sweet spot for my tastes. I have a feeling Mr. Peach and I have as similar a CD collection as horror movies we love. If music described as melodic metal tinged with hard rock, punk, and goth sounds like your thing, you’ll really dig this album. If it’s only one or two of those, I still think you’ll find several songs that you do like.
Lesbian Bed Death is working hard as hell to make it in rock and roll and absolutely deserve our support. We all know that rock bands are back underground now, where they belong. But it also means that you have to hustle more to rock. Crowdfunding contributors already have the album and the bonus album The Plague Sessions. If that’s not you, you can pick up The Witching Hour on September 3rd. Do whatever you can to get your hands on it.
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Also, find more of my CGCM reviews here: Dave Wilks
