Superchrist
Holy
Shit
Hells Headbangers
2012
One of my all time
favorite rock/heavy bands Superchrist has just released their latest album
"Holy Shit". 10 tracks of pure old school rock pleasure with lyrics
about booze and boobies. "Holy Shit" is their 6th full length
release, and I suspect any male into Motörhead and who has a habit of raising a
glass every now and then can find any of these releases at least slightly
enjoyable.
The new effort unfortunately
does not go without a few nags.
While not
reinventing their sound completely compared to their earlier efforts, the vocals
seem to be a tiny bit quieter on this album and guitar sound is in an all
around wider spectrum and has less sharp razor-wire sounds from "Defenders
of the Filth". Which, at least to my old, hairy ears, makes it hard to
make out what Mr. Black is singing about. And for a band with incredibly cool
lyrics, this can almost be considered a crime. Nothing a little EQing doesn't
fix thought.
Musically and
lyrically it seems Superchrist has grown up. We now have more sophisticated
songs with effortless flow, short fitting guitar solos that do not make you
wonder if they were there just to feed the guitarist’s ego, upbeat drums, less
swearing and vulgarity. One can't actually resist comparing "Holy
Shit" to High Spirits, another sideproject which more than half of
Superchrist’s members are involved with. Sure, the sound and themes are
different, but the way song structures are set up does overlap somewhat.
In the end of the
day, do not make a mistake thinking "Holy Shit" lacks testosterone.
It's the same attitude, just less of a "fuck off" spelled out for the
audience. Clocking in at just under 3 minutes average per song there just isn't
much room for synthetic filler. Surprisingly "Beer Metal", the song
most like Superchrist’s older material, is found as the last track on the disc,
I wonder if that is to put emphasis on the newer direction. It doesn't
completely match classics like "Fuck You Twice", but what a way to go
out.
Review by Pertti