My name is Andy and I love ludicrous power metal.
Roll up, roll up, then, if you’re going to dress as a pirate, sing about goblins invading Scotland or wear a loincloth. And especially — in this case — if you’re going to dress as zombies.
Dominum are ace. Anyone who has seen them live, or heard either of their other two records, will tell you that. But of course, that always comes with the giant caveat: they’re ace if you like this type of thing.
Which means the nightmarish opener, “The Circus Is In Town” — and to be fair, clowns always scared the living crap out of me as a kid — comes from the heavier end of what they do. But it also means the ’80s Euro-disco of the insanely catchy “Doctor Doctor”. It is 100% not a UFO cover, but it does possess a key change that would make Bon Jovi jealous.
“The Children Of The Night” would make a Eurovision Song Contest final, should Dr. Dead on vocals and his zombies — Tommy Kemp on guitars, Patient 0 on bass, and Victor Hilltop on drums — ever get there. I’m assuming these aren’t their real names.
The four-piece make quite the noise. “Nosferatu” might be crackers, but it is superbly done. “Dark Melodies” is altogether more serious, albeit still cinematic in scope. The title track sees them team up with former touring partners Battle Beast — and more natural bedfellows you won’t find — while “Jack The Ripper” is a rather historically inaccurate romp designed purely to get fists in the air.
And look, I’m not sure I’m meant to admit this as a serious rock critic — ahem — but I owned Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” as a little lad in the early ’80s. Whether we needed a cover of it here is open to debate, but we’ve got one all the same, with all the OTT bombast you’d want.
“Devil’s Son” soars and, like so many of these, manages to sound epic despite being about the length of the average pop song. “I Don’t Drink Wine” — and they’d be weird zombies if they did — lays it bare, though I bet they wouldn’t say no to a side order of blood.
If they sound at their most German on that, then it’s difficult to imagine anything other than a Northern European band doing something like “Endzeit”. Given that means “last days” in German, it is appropriate that it might end the record, but there are a couple of bonus tracks tagged on, with acoustic versions of some older songs.
“Don’t Get Bitten By The Wrong Ones” and “Hey Living People” are both the sort of thing that used to make B-sides on CD singles, but they also prove that really good songs translate in any format.
And while you couldn’t explain the allure of power metal to anyone who isn’t already in the club, those of us who surrendered years ago will find much to enjoy if we answer when “Night Is Calling”.
Rating: 8/10
