Kind of breaking my own rules here of not covering reissues (too much new music) by download but truth is I have been on a Christian Death-trip lately and wanted to have the excuse to properly listen to an album I have neglected in the past and one that is a firm favourite. Besides my tape copy of the latter has been played to death over the years. These are both getting the limited edition vinyl treatment via Season Of Mist and just to be lazy with the copy and paste “’The Scriptures’ is available in gatefold on black, white, & gold vinyl and come with an lp-sized, 12 page booklet. ‘Atrocities’ is also available on black, white, & gold vinyl but includes a (roughly) full colour, 3 ft x 2 ft poster.”
Following ‘The Wind Kissed Pictures’ of 1985 Valor Kand and Gitane Demone’s Christian Death released Atrocities [8] in 1986 an album of somewhat harrowing themes beginning a long running look into mankind’s inhumanity against itself and set around songs dealing with the Holocaust. It is a dark place to immerse yourself in but is one of poignant musical beauty in its sorrowful reflection on the subject matter. This is one that had kind of passed me by and is a gap in my collection so I kind of went into it with a fresh view even after 30 years since it was first released. After a swirl of devilish violin ‘Will-o-the-Wisp bounces in unmistakeably with an upbeat death rock beat and the twin vocal parts of Valor and Gitane flirting with each other. There is a clamour about it and the skeletal gothic etched guitars which really take you back in time and it’s a well-honed short sharp number before things slow to the moribund and haunting touch of ‘Tales Of Innocence’ allowing Gitane’s vocals to really take centre stage. Much like today, moods and emotions are handled with aplomb and there is an enchanting feel to things. One thing that strikes is that the music does not really seem to have aged at all; maybe it has been partly kept alive by so many currently still trying to revisit the sound of the original artists and take it back to its base form making it sound as it did all those years ago.
There’s a lot of gloom, doom and despair found within the folds of this no less than in a cover of one of the most wrist slitting songs of all time ‘Gloomy Sunday’ by Jewish concentration camp survivor and pianist Rezső Seress. I still think Marc And Mambas did the most downbeat version ever but this comes close. There are perhaps some more violent attacks than we have been accustomed to from the band of late such as the galloping frenzy of ‘Strapping Me Down’ but they are quick to counter with the other side of things such as the stygian depths of despair found on the self-explanatory ‘The Danzig Waltz.’ It’s no case of standard rock instrumentation found here either as there is a background classical feel at times, something they would really explore with the next album and the textures of other instruments (sounds like a dulcimer in a couple of songs) enriching things here and there. As for the vocals check out Gitane’s unearthly wails ‘Chimere De–ci De-la’ and feel the cold grip of fear running down your spine. Tracks like ‘Strange Fortune’ have a neo-folk feel to them and remind a bit of artists like Coil treading similar paths at the time and Ventriloquist has the martial rhythm explored by Death In June before it explodes into a frenzied slice of violent death rock. One wonders if the themes here were too dark for musicians Barry Galvin and Johann Schuman who decamped after recording (in Monmouth Wales of all places) to form Mephisto Waltz. Any album that ends with a song about the death of Josef Mengele must have taken its participants to some very dark places. I guess if I had heard this properly back in the day it would still be haunting me now just like its apocalyptic follow up.
Where else could the band go after trawling such depths, religion was the answer and The Scriptures [9] is a work of immense heretical depth, one regarded by many fans myself included as Christian Death’s finest work. A disturbing prelude informing us that ‘Jesus descended into hell’ via a pulpit speech leads into the ‘Song Of Song’s with a Stravinsky etched feel, Valor’s beatific vocals and a bouncy drum bombast. The chorus decrying “sick of love” with Gitane’s lamenting cries over the top hit hard and become lodged in the head forevermore. The guitars weave all around it and melody is thick and strong and it actually has a rather jubilant feel to it despite the depressive lyrics. Jagged guitars sounding like a shattering mirror see ‘Vanity’ athletically flexing its muscles and jumping around. Valor is in element over the short number ranting away and it really makes a fast mark before the gloom and doom of ‘The Four Horseman’ starts off with a Floydian / Fleetwood Mac sounding gentleness. This intro makes way into one of the album’s definite highlights though as it picks up the pace and gallops off with a persuasive beat and Valor delivering a real fire and brimstone vocal sermon. Gitane matches in the chorus and some strange psychedelic guitar work elongates itself through things before the memorable number winds down. Somehow they go and deliver a 10 minute cover of Jimi Hendrix song 1983 after this making it seem as though it is theirs all along, really fitting it in to the album and giving Gitane centre stage, vocally powerful and totally bewitching. The guitar work is absolutely stunning here, one can only wonder what Jimi would have thought of such a dark interpretation of one of his numbers?
The B side starts with David Glass who would also leave after this recording and join The Mephisto Waltz delivering a slow drumming death march on ‘Omega Dawn’ With chilling piano tones, discordant guitars and Valor offering no hope of redemption, it really does sound like the apocalypse is coming and the end of the world is here. This no doubt scared others as much as it did me on first hearing. It truly arrives with the horrifying ‘A Ringing In Their Ear’ delivering true cataclysm before a cheeky panpipe call takes into the chilled out ‘Golden Age’ a lullaby etched number suggesting that ultimate destruction has led to rebirth. Lyrics here along with Gitane’s vocals are absolutely gorgeous, a total contrast to what we have just heard. “Happy to be alive” is the gospel like call and it’s an angelic sounding performance. Sounding like an Ennio Morricone score from a Sergio Leone Western ‘Alpha Sunset’ furthers hope of a new gold dawn but things get very sinister again with the symphonic (pure Stravinsky nightmare) short interlude ‘Spilt Blood.’ Gitane gets sassy putting on arguably her greatest ever vocal performance on ‘Raw War’ and any hopeful vibes are now completely done away with as musically the jazzy and experimental sounding discordance spreads through to last track ‘Reflections.’ Building ominously and aping Hermann’s jarring Psycho score things culminate into hellish contortions and a crashing sound of a gong leaving us wondering if the silence left in its wake will be the last thing we ever hear.
‘The Scriptures’ is one of the most atmospherically chilling albums ever made and is a monumental work that has withstood the ravages of time. If you have never heard it now is definitely the time to seek it out and if ever there was an album to be played to herald on the apocalypse this is it. Be afraid, these are both essential re-issues.
(Pete Woods)
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