New Jersey's foremost punk band returns with another post-Danzig affair with bassist Jerry Only again taking the vocal duties. The Misfits may be getting up there in terms of age; but I believe this is a great effort and easily one of the best punk albums of 2011.This album will probably not convert people to Misfits fans, but is a nice addition to the bands output. Let's take a look at this currently underrated album and some of the aspects of it that work and some that don't.
The Devil's Rain is actually the second album of the "Only" era Misfits after the charming cover album "Project 1950, released in 2003. Only is certainly not Glenn Danzig in terms of vocal range, but his voice has a nice charm to it and has a unique quality on its own. Backing up Only on the four-string is guitarist Dez Cadena of seminal hardcore punk band "Black Flag". Fleshing out the lineup is drummer Eric "Chupacabra" Arce. The album's sixteen songs (could have been trimmed), provide a monster-movie soundtrack that will please any fan of horror/sci-fi movies and punk music in general. Let's look at some highlights of the album.
"Land of the Dead" is an obvious tribute to George A. Romero's "Dead" films. The song is classic post-Danzig Misfits; with plenty of whooooas and syllable extrapolation. " Land of the Dead" is the strongest track on the album by a mile. Other highlights include a sweet almost do-wop number called "Monkey's Paw". The song is very retro, and it fits nicely with the b-movie themes of space and zombies. Only is clearly on a mission to make a song about every monster in human history, and "Ghost of Frankenstein" gives us a creepy tale of Shelley's monster. The song is typical but catchy punk in all of its three-chord glory. The Misfits show their heavy metal muscle on "Father"; a riff based number about vampires. The title track, "The Devil's Rain" really proves the Misfits underrated use of movie effects to set tone and atmosphere. The song is a fierce and thrusting quasi-metal tune about what I can only guess to be Devil's Rain (we are not dealing with poets here people, take it easy on them). Another 1950s influenced number is "The Black Hole"; bringing to mind the vintage sci-fi magazines that I would assume Only spent much of the 1960s reading. The song is kitschy; but that is really the point here. Basically, this album is the musically equivalent of a drive-in theater playing nothing but horror movies. Second single "Twilight of the Dead" is not horrible, but suffers from an identity crisis. The song alternates between metal and punk, and does not really do either genre terribly well.
Despite several killer tracks; the album does suffer from bloating. Several songs sound underdeveloped and really fail to stand out. "The Mummy's Hand" is extremely repetitive, and contains weird transitions that feel extremely out of place on a Misfits album. The lyrics are laughable even for the Misfits, and I would skip this one. Dez Cadena decides to take vocal duties on "Jack the Ripper" and "Death Ray", and the songs should have definitely been cut from the album. The songs almost induce sleep; and are extremely boring and too long. They sound almost like the same song; and the vocals lack any kind of defining features and elasticity. Back to the Only sung tunes, "Vivid Red" lacks any real punch and fails to satisfy with its amateur lyrics and repetitive chords and hook. "Where Do They Go" is quite simply one of the worst songs that the Misfits have made; it contains horrible female backing vocals that sound out of a 1990s car commercial. "Sleepwalkin" actually induces sleep; and chugs along with an almost narcoleptic Only barely interested. "Cold in Hell" is a decent enough song; but is very typical compared to the other songs on the album and adds very little to the album. "Unexplained" and "Dark Shadows" again feel like rehashes; they are almost interchangeable with most of the songs on the album.
Overall, the Devil's Rain is more killer than filler. However, the album could have easily been cut to a more manageable ten tracks. The Misfits are largely confined to the fringes of the current music scene. Most of the punk community fails to recognize the current band as the legitimate Misfits. I would disagree with that statement, the current incarnation of the Misfits is certainly an enjoyable band. However, those looking for pseudo-satanic horror punk should look elsewhere. The songs on "The Devil's Rain" are quite tame compared to Danzig's macabre subject matter. For those who are fans of the band and those who enjoy all things campy and punk; this would be a nice addition to their collection.
Rating-7/10
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