Death SS has gone through many incarnations, both musically and personnel-wise, in their nearly 45 year existence. The band formed in 1977 as arguably the only band pre-Venom who could be described as black metal. Come their 1987 reformation, the band started playing a blend of traditional metal, thrash, and doom, which they affectionately labeled “horror metal”. Now, well into the 21st century, the band has expanded that sonic palette even further, incorporating elements of industrial metal and melodic hard rock on their latest release, Ten.
Helming the ship as always is founding member and frontman, Steve Sylvester. Falling somewhere between “bastard son of Alice Cooper” and “lost brother of King Diamond”, it’s Sylvester’s unmistakable raspy voice and gruesome lyrics that make Death SS. His accompanying band of ghouls faithfully bring these tales of evil to life, going above and beyond to do so. And although this current incarnation of Death SS now has three albums under their belt, I’d argue Ten is their strongest yet.
The album opens with “The Black Plague”, which channels the darkness and doom of old school Death SS. It should be noted that Sylvester initially formed the band with noted Black Sabbath worshipper Paul Chain, who would go on to became a doom metal legend in his own right. Although Chain is long since gone (from the band that is), his spirit lives on through this song, as well as “Suspiria – Queen of the Dead”. Standing in stark contrast is my choice cut, “Zora”, which very well may be the greatest Desmond Child era Alice Cooper song never written. Once it gets in your head, it’s not coming out!
Much of Ten contains what can be described as an industrial rock influence. This might be a turnoff for traditional metal curmudgeons such as you and I, but fear not fellow elitists. Death SS retains enough classic hard and heavy tropes throughout that one would hardly notice a prevailing synth here or Rammstein chug riff there on songs like “Under Satan’s Son”, “The Rebel God”, and “The World is Doomed”. As if there wasn’t enough to digest, the addition of a gloomy goth rocker (“The Temple of the Rain”) and a high speed power metal hymn (“Ride the Dragon”) make this an even more intriguing listen.
Sylvester and company have outdone themselves with Ten. Old schoolers will bang their heads and singalong in delight, while the youngsters who come across it might say, “Hey, this kind of sounds like Ghost!” This is no coincidence. Ghost frontman Tobias Forge (“Papa Emeritus *insert number here*”) has cited Death SS as a massive influence on the band’s music and imagery. Perhaps an opening slot on one of Ghost’s upcoming US arena runs would finally introduce Death SS to the masses. One can dream!
8 out of 10
Label: Lucifer Rising Records
Genre: Heavy Metal
For fans of: Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Ghost