…release your head from the world: SAINT VITUS – ‘Die Healing’

Arguably one of the greatest doom bands of all time, Saint Vitus have crafted an unsurpassable body of work that effortlessly combines themes of horror, madness, and ruination, with an added dose of grimy psychedelia resulting in a potent, singular style of doom that is both timeless and unique. And while there is no denying that a major component of Saint Vitus’ sound stems from the hypnotic riffs and demented, abusive leads of Dave Chandler, the contributions of the other members of the band cannot be minimized or overlooked. After all, Mark Adams is responsible for some of the most memorable, doomiest basslines ever laid to tape, and the languorous drumming of Armando Acosta helped many-a-tune lope towards its conclusion with a barbarian heft or, occasionally, with a sporadic blast of punkish fury. Following the untimely passing of Acosta, the addition of Henry Vasquez behind the kit brought a new element to the band on 2012’s excellent ‘Lillie: F-65’. Vasquez not only proved to be a worthy successor to the vacant throne previously occupied by Acosta in terms of bludgeoning heaviness, but he also brought a percussive groove that was only hinted at on previous albums.

Even though each and every member of the band is responsible—through the contributions of their constituent parts—for making Saint Vitus the reigning kings of downtrodden doom, the band has had no shortage of stellar vocal performances. Over the span of several releases Saint Vitus has seemingly done the impossible by enlisting and integrating three distinct vocal personalities into their sound with great success. Following a three album tenure from Scott “Wino” Weinrich, the band produced the often ignored, underrated classic ‘C.O.D.’ (review HERE) with Christian “Chritus” Linderson—also re-released through Season of Mist. While ‘C.O.D.’ was regarded as a failure by many, the departure of Linderson seemed to signal the end of the band. Chandler and co. rallied to create what was to be—at the time—the band’s swan song, ‘Die Healing’, which completed the circle by bringing original vocalist Scott Reagers back into the fold.

Originally released in 1995, ‘Die Healing’ stands as the band’s crowning achievement—an impressive accomplishment when compared to the strength of the band’s discography, where every release is a classic in its own right. Not only had the band crafted their doomiest, most expansive release to date, but they had also found the perfect sound engineer in Harris Johns. Though there is no denying that the band’s earlier sound, particularly on the initial Reagers-era releases, can be partially attributed to a primitive production job, ‘Die Healing’ is light years ahead in terms of clarity and heft while still retaining a richness and warmth that is characteristic of all Vitus releases. Finally, and with Reagers in tow, the band had crafted an undeniable masterpiece.

‘Die Healing’ opens strongly with the tracks “Dark World” and “One Mind”, each of which could have been handled gracefully and effectively with either Weinrich or Linderson behind the mic, but Reagers’ over-the-top intonation elevates the songs to a level of doom that had been missing from Vitus’ music for nearly a decade. “Dark World”, in particular, shines with its thick, Sabbathy riffs, Chandler’s maniacal lead guitar abuse, and the theatrical, often sinister vocals of Reagers. It is four-and-a-half minutes of doomed perfection. At the center of the album lurks the “Sloth”, one of the greatest doom anthems of all time next to “Burial at Sea” from the band’s 1984 self-titled debut. “Sloth” is a crawling, slow-motion apocalyptic descent into absurdity and madness. When Reagers sings, “Can you feel the evil / can you hear the wail / the sound of destiny / sharpening its nails” it’s difficult not to smirk and shudder at the same time. Perhaps due to the return of Reagers the band gives a reverential nod to the past with “Return of the Zombie”, another crawling masterpiece that finds Chandler in top form as he channels noise and distortion from another dimension. “Return of the Zombie” also finds the vocals of Reagers heavily laden with effects which also continues on the following track “In the Asylum” making each of these tunes distinct within the Vitus discography.

For the duration of the near fifty minute runtime of ‘Die Healing’ Saint Vitus pile classic riff upon classic riff accompanied with wailing protestations strangled from Chandler’s guitar. Acosta and Adams, one of the most distinctive rhythm units in doom, deliver a stand-out performance on each and every track. It is the contributions from every member of the band and the subsequent chilling, crypt-like atmosphere that has made ‘Die Healing’ an indelible classic. Saint Vitus are in a realm all their own, and the return of Scott Reagers coupled with an inspired production job courtesy of Harris Johns have yielded one of the greatest doom metal albums of all time—an album that has been out of print for too long. Thankfully Season of Mist has stepped up and re-released this out-of-print classic on CD and LP along with the underappreciated predecessor ‘C.O.D.’. Live to doom, doom to live…

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…like liquid diamonds fall: YOB – ‘Catharsis’

With stunning, more suitable cover art courtesy of Aaron Edge, Yob’s seminal, long out-of-print masterpiece, ‘Catharsis’, is once again available to the masses complete with a fine-tuned remastering job at the hands of Tad Doyle from the depths of his Witch Ape Studio, thus reuniting the Lumbar trio. Where Yob’s debut, ‘Elaborations of Carbon’, was an instantly gratifying slab of psychedelic doom orbiting the Earth from amidst the exosphere, ‘Catharsis’ achieved the impossible by pushing the band’s sound into the aether and beyond the confines of interplanetary space.

Uncompromisingly heavy and cosmically spacey, the trio of Mike Scheidt, Isamu Sato, and Gabe Morley have, from the band’s inception, redefined and explored the possibilities of doom and psychedelic metal. Despite a couple of lineup changes from within the band’s rhythm section beginning with the release of their third album, ‘The Illusion of Motion’, Yob has—under the sage-like guidance of Scheidt—continued to expand their sound and push the boundaries of heavy music. And though Yob has carved out an unmistakable and indelible sonic “fingerprint” due to Scheidt’s unique vocals and riffs, each and every release has an essence of its own, and ‘Catharsis’ in particular seems to resonate strongly with many.

With only three tracks and a runtime near the fifty minute mark, ‘Catharsis’ is an abomination not restricted to the earthly confines of space and time. Each song is a sprawling journey suffused with tempo and tonal fluctuations keeping the tunes both wholly immersive and undeniably immediate while additionally providing the illusion of brevity. Simply put: ‘Catharsis’ is an engaging listen from the initial feint percussive notes provided by Morley on album-opener “Aeons” to the demoniac shrieks and wails of Scheidt during the closing frenzy of the title-track, “Catharsis”.

And while a reissue of ‘Catharsis’ has been long overdue, a remastered edition, at first, seems unnecessary. That is…until you press play. Though the effect is not completely obvious or overwhelming, a cursory comparison reveals a greater degree of clarity which ultimately enhances the overall listening experience. With Tad’s masterful production contributions notably established with the recording of two of the year’s best albums, Uzala’s ‘Tales of Blood & Fire’ and portions of Lumbar’s ‘The First and Last Days of Unwelcome’, it should come as no surprise that the man brings a sonic lucidity to the proceedings without sacrificing heft in the least. Pick up the cd from Profound Lore Records or, if you’re a vinyl junky, preorder the upcoming vinyl release from Relapse Records. Highly essential…

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…Come ye faithful, meet thy maker: SAINT VITUS – ‘C.O.D.’

Saint Vitus’ seemingly misunderstood and long out-of-print sixth full-length, ‘C.O.D.’, has finally been dug up, dragged from its grave, and remastered and reanimated with the addition of two lost tracks courtesy of Season of Mist. Maligned by many—including main songwriter Dave Chandler—and revered by few, ‘C.O.D.’ is clearly the black sheep of the Saint Vitus discography, an outlier that has divided fans and critics from its inception. And sure, the one-off effort with Chritus Linderson at the mic is distinguished from the band’s prior work due to a step-up in the production department and a playing time that essentially dwarfs their other releases, ‘C.O.D.’ is nevertheless a masterpiece in its own right and an album whose “failure” ultimately paved the way for the reunion with original vocalist Scott Reagers and the recording of the band’s magnum opus ‘Die Healing’. But make no mistake…‘C.O.D.’ rocks and it rocks fucking hard.

Remastered or not, ‘C.O.D.’ has always sounded great. While the leap in production value from ‘V’ to ‘C.O.D’ is apparent, the band hardly transitioned to a clean, radio-friendly polish. Chandler’s guitar still rips and his solos claw and leave marks all over the album accompanied by Mark Adams’ doom-as-fuck basslines. Probably the most noticeable improvement over the band’s previous albums is the sound of the drums. Acosta’s drums are heavier and more prominent in the mix which lends an unprecedented barbarian heft to the twelve tracks of the album proper. Few bands have so effortlessly transitioned from vocalist-to-vocalist as Saint Vitus and the standalone release featuring Linderson is arguably one of the band’s finest.

With over an hour’s worth of doom-and-gloom ‘C.O.D.’ covers a lot of ground and includes many of Saint Vitus’ most memorable and unique tracks. Following a brief and moody intro is the anthemic call to arms “Children of Doom”. Here Chandler’s guitar bleeds and wails throughout the track while Linderson presides over his flock of lost souls while reciting the riddle of doom. The third track, “Planet of Judgement”, has the lone distinction of being credited to the entire band with words penned by Linderson and Acosta. Not to dismiss the individual songwriting talents of Chandler, but “Planet of Judgement” is easily one of the band’s strongest tracks. The main impact of “Planet of Judgement” not only comes from Chandler’s memorable riffs and mind-bending leads, but also from Linderson’s vocal melodies. The shift from an atonal, riff-following pattern to a forlorn, emotional delivery on the latter half of the track leaves a haunting and indelible impression on the listener. Other greats such as the hard rocker “Shadow of a Skeleton”, the woeful crawl of “Plague of Man”, and the Joy Division-esque “Get Away” have never sounded better.

As an added bonus the reissue of ‘C.O.D.’ includes two bonus tracks, “To Breed a Soldier” and “The Chameleon”. The two tracks, originally recorded as demos for the follow-up to ‘C.O.D.’, give a glimpse into what could have been had things worked out between Chandler, Linderson, and their label at the time. Production-wise the two tracks are understandably rougher than the rest of ‘C.O.D.’ and the vocals of Linderson are more dynamic and consistent with his later work with Lord Vicar and Goatess. Chandler hasn’t missed a beat on these unearthed tracks as he seems to strangle the life from his protesting guitar on the squalling, fuzz-drenched lead of “To Breed a Soldier”. “The Chameleon” is classic, mid-paced Vitus that also features Chandler’s signature wah abuse and the solid rhythm section of Adams and Acosta.

The re-release of ‘C.O.D.’ has been long overdue and Season of Mist has done an amazing job. The inclusion of two bonus tracks simply sweetens the deal. Personal preference in regards to vocalists within the Saint Vitus discography will always be a point of contention, but I find the Chritus-era to be second only to the band’s output with Scott Reagers. It’s too bad that Linderson’s tenure began and ended with ‘C.O.D.’, though his further involvement may have irreversibly altered the band’s trajectory thus depriving the masses of the excellent ‘Die Healing’ album.

Words Steve Miller
(Originally published at Temple of Perdition)

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