Although we’re in the midst of Spring, for Death SS, everyday is Halloween. As these cult legends approach their 50th anniversary, they do so with a new album and, surprise, a new lineup in tow. Yes, in the four years that have passed since 2021’s X, mastermind Steve Sylvester has revamped the entire band yet again, save for longtime keyboardist Freddy Delirio, who sticks around for this latest affair, The Entity. And while the lineup may be new, the approach certainly isn’t. The Entity carries on the modern metal style established upon their 2012 reformation, albeit with less industrial leanings than its predecessor and a sharper focus on *gasp* hard rock tropes.
It only took them almost half a century, but Death SS might’ve just dropped their most accessible album to date. I’m talking from a purely musical standpoint, of course. Lyrically, these ain’t no happy go lucky tales of sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. No, Sylvester waxes poetic on all things ghoulish and ghastly, from old school horror and superstition, to Lucifer himself and his unearthly domain. However, similar to Sweden’s current biggest musical export (a band inspired by Death SS themselves), Death SS pairs these horrific lamentations against a backdrop of anthemic choruses, grandiose riffs, and a squeaky clean production. Such a hubristic confidence leaves one wondering: Is this really the same band who gave us such devilish classics as “Murder Angels”, “Cursed Mama”, and “Zombie”? Yes, but in name only.
Once you get it out of your head that this ISN’T an album of first wave black metal magic resurrected, but rather a collection of “hooks first, everything else second” arena metal singalongs, you’re greeted by an album that, for what it is, is a damn fun listen. The Alice Cooper influence is more than evident, not just in Sylvester’s raspy vocals and devilish demeanor, but in the very structure of cuts like “Ave Adonai”, “Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde”, and my personal favorite, “Justified Sinner”, which sounds straight off the Coop’s 1989 blockbuster, Trash. Are we sure Desmond Child didn’t get his grubby mitts on this one? That chorus, coupled with the female backing vocals, scream MTV bubblegum metal mania, and holy hell does that formula hit the spot.
As The Entity progresses, it becomes apparent that “Justified Sinner” is far from a one-off. In fact, the entire album is peppered with hard rock/AOR moments, and the fact that I’m typing that is about as perplexing as the “AOR to euro power metal” pipeline that Frontiers has been cultivating for the past 8ish years. We’ve got some ballads in the symphonic bombast of “Out to Get Me” and AOR Cooper glitz of “Love Until Death”. Ultra-melodic cuts like “The Whitechapel Wolf” and “Hell is Revealed” sound near identical to Ghost’s recent output, and “The Evil Painter” ditches metal entirely, instead opting for doomy Mission-esque goth rock. The only moments that come close to the band’s feral heyday are the thrashy “Possession”, blistering “Two Souls”, and power metal tinged “Evil Never Dies”.
Upon first listen, The Entity doesn’t resonate with me as strongly as X, but I’m sure that’ll change over time. If nothing else, it’s a case study in a band who was crucially influential to a multitude of metal subgenres, in turn being influenced by one of their biggest disciples (Ghost) and creating an album that reflects such. I guess Judas Priest’s Painkiller would be a similar example of this phenomenon, but even by that point, Priest had only been around a fraction of the time Death SS has now been an active band. Meanwhile, here’s sixty-something year old Steve Sylvester, penning songs that aren’t just as good as today’s gimmick-centric acts (looking at a certain other masked English culprit right now), but light years better. Perhaps these are the perks of selling your soul at a young age? Spooky shit, my dudes!
7 out of 10
Label: Lucifer Rising Records
Genre: Heavy Metal
For fans of: Alice Cooper, Ghost, Wednesday 13
Leave a Reply