Christian Mistress
To Your Death
To Your Death, the recent 8-song album by
Christian Mistress, an Olympia, Washington-based quintet, is an unabashed
celebration of heavy metal done European-style.
Fans of Warlock, Doro, Iron Maiden, Raven, Accept, UDO, and other 80s
type bands that avoided the glam rock style flamboyantly erupting from LA like
so much hair spray should give this album respect, love, a listen and some
lunch money for the glorious assault that their ears will revel in.
The Wikipedia page for CM
compares lead singer Christine Davis' vocals to everyone from Patty Smith to
Wendy O. Williams to Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top (!?!). Apparently the editors have failed to enjoy
the awesomeness that is Doro Pesch. As
much as Christian Mistress is their own act, and produces music that taps a special
place in my heart and my ears' taste buds, I keep coming back to how much it
sounds like Doro's Warrior Soul album from 2006. This in no way diminishes how much I love To
Your Death. If you're gonna sound
like somebody else, it might as well be the best sound possible.
Along with the feminine
raspiness of Davis' vocals, the twin guitar work of Oscar Sparbel and Tim
Diedrich bring a very Iron Maiden vibe to the tracks. There's enough rhythm guitar to keep thrash
fans happy, but plenty of virtuosity by the axe-men to go around. Rhythm section studs Reuben Storey (drums)
and Johnny Wulf (bass) keep the band's sound driving and aggressive in the best
kind of way. The one trap that can trip
up bands with this much awesome is the temptation to do a radio-friendly over-wrought power ballad. Fortunately, despite a couple slower passages
(and a contemplative opening minute to "Ultimate Freedom") I'm pretty
sure those two words have never even crossed the minds of Christian Mistress. No passage stays slow, and quiet
contemplation is fleeting at most. This
is active music for active people.
The album opens strong with
"Neon," a powerful rejection of the rest of the world and an
invitation to the lover to return, "meet in the dark" where
"everything's alright."
There's pain there, but a hopeful pain.
This underlying theme of damage, pain, anger, rejection, and love's
wounds wrapped in dark, sometimes horror-themed imagery back-lit by the glimmer
of hope pervades every song on the album.
Whether it's "Stronger than Blood," an invitation to the lover
to walk side by side "with blood on our hands," or "Open
Road," the band's first video from the album with its yearning to meet up
with the lover "if you're on the road that leads us to the end,"
every track appeals to the angst-ridden teenager buried deep in the souls of
anyone who loves this music.
