Not surprisingly ‘The Second Coming’ is Japanese doom/stoner crew Church of Misery’s second album. Originally released in 2004, this re-issue comes repackaged with a single bonus track in the form of May Blitz cover ‘For Madmen Only’.
Madmen is certainly what you get too. Church of Misery stay on the path forged on their first album by largely focusing on serial killers and mass murderers for song inspiration. Ted Bundy and Mark Essex are just a couple of the killers to star on this album. The album also carries on from ‘Master of Brutality’ in that audio samples of interviews and court footage with the villains is often used in the intro’s to songs. This adds a solemn atmosphere to the already doom filled tracks very effectively and adds that extra creep factor to the listening experience.
Although the much of the same subject matter is tackled as on the first album, Church of Misery approach it slightly different on this outing. The songs are still quite long but on average are shorter than on ‘Master of Brutality’. This gives the album a more punchy sound. The music itself is also a little faster and while still very much a doom record, allows more stoner influence from the mid-nineties to flow through the record. The technical ability is also stepped up on ‘The Second Coming’ with guitar solos leaping out to the forefront of the sound where previously they were lurking around somewhere in the sludge. The vocals have also matured a little too, carrying less grit than before but still packing a fair punch.
Both covers on the album, ‘For Madmen Only’ and the original inclusion of Cactus’ ‘One Way or Another’ offer some variation to the shape of the album. The overriding theme is still that of venting Sabbath, with that extra stoner feel sometimes verging on the Kyuss and Nebula approach (of venting Sabbath).
‘The Second Coming’ sees Church of Misery step up their game technically and allow that extra room for wider (ish) influences into their music. This perhaps results in a more accessible sound for the new-comer but it’s still pretty scary stuff!
Related posts:
