Review CHURCH OF MISERY ‘Born Under a Mad Sign’

Japanese metal veterans Church Of Misery have finished work on their newest longplayer ‘Born Under a Mad Sign’. Seven songs is what the four-piece band recorded and a look on the line-up shows some significant changes.

The first remarkable thing is, that frontman Kazuhiro Asaeda rejoined the Japanese metal force. The singer was already part of the band back in 1996 when Church Of Misery released the ‘Adv. 1996’ demo tape. Also new in the line-up is drummer Toshiaki Umemura which also means that Tatsu Mikami remains the constant factor in the band since also guitarist Yukito Okazaki is member of the Church Of Misery community.

The four-piece band stays true to their musical identity. Tatsu describes the band as the real heirs of Black Sabbath and indeed, the doom- laden riffing reminds of the Birmingham trailblazers. While listening to the down-tuned slo-mo riffs of ‘Born Under a Mad Sign’ I also had to think of bands like Corrosion Of Conformity. The ruthless roaring guitars and the melody lines of Asaeda are key to the sound of the four Japanese. Together with the thundering rhythm section the band manage to create a hazy vibe that runs through each of the songs on this longplayer.

Thematically the guys used a creepy approach, using the life story of some serial killers for their lyrics. While many other bands stay abstract with their lyrics, the Japanese metal institution use real human abysses for their lyrics and create a special field of tension that goes well together with the party hypnotizing music.

‘Born Under a Mad Sign’ is the seventh full-length longplayer of Church Of Misery and it is their most advanced to date. Equipped with a very solid and powerful sound, the beauty of doom metal blossoms in black immediately and it’s the hypnotic repetitions that keeps you away from pressing the ‘Stop’-button.