The word “Goth” conjures up certain images for the rock community. Mopey, white faced corner dwellers. Glow stick wielding tubular hair arm dancers or Hot Topic adorned emo kids. What happened to the tongue in cheek, chicken dancing, dusty dancefloor hoofers?

We are still out here getting old and plump and it seem like our tastes are still being catered for. What with Unto Others and Way of All Flesh firing off aural shots at different ends of the dark spectrum and loads of great post punk throbbing out of all continents at the mo it appears that Goff is in rude health and is infecting a lot of rocks other subgenres.

Die Oberherren from Sweden seek to bring back the sounds of 80’s gothic rock claiming their influences as The Lords of the New Church, Adam and the Ants, John Carpenter and Billy Idol. Their number boast current and ex members of Ghost, Gehennah and many others.

I would stick ol’ Fonzig in the mix as well as “The Blood or the Wine” sounds like summat straight out of the Evil Elvis’ oeuvre with the baritone vocals and deliciously cheesy grooves.

The feel of this album is gothic americana – it’s like the cast of True Blood hopped up on Absinthe, Whiskey and crab cakes.  Dark ballad “Guns and Pills”  is a moody little bugger, smearing it’s eyeliner backed by a melancholy piano line  normally found on a 90’s rap track.  It’s delightfully cliched – like a kitsch ghost train at a county fair you are there for the fake cobwebs and peeling fluorescent paint and you will scream and laugh simultaneously. The drums in this track bring to mind the slow march to a guillotine or into leaden death on a blood swamped battle field.

Don’t fear though, there is plenty to shake your elbows to on “Die By My Hand”.  Opening with “The Horned One Stabs”  these greasy goffs get your hips shaking like you are at the Titty Twister – fans of the forementioned Unto Others will definitely get on this groovy train.  “By the End of the Shore” is like a 50’s E.C. comics musical with the Cryptkeeper conducting the band.

“Marian”? I think with the opening chord of “Catrine” – completely wrong. This is no Leeds based drama – it is Hammond city and classic rock widdles in this lovelorn croon-along.  Plenty more Hammond on “Black Nightshade” with is old school Batcave stylings – you can almost taste the snakebite and Black and scorched hairspray.  The spooky collection ends with “Something Wicked” which has a dusting of Stevenage Homepride on it (FOTN y’all) and swaggers like Gary Cooper at lunchtime.  Despite their wish to channel the 80’s Die Oberherren still mix in enough contemporary darkness to lift this above a nostalgia trip and will get this dark cowboy saddled up and ready to sip sarsaparilla in a deserted mining town on a regular basis. Ghoulishly good fun.

(8/10 Matt Mason)

https://www.facebook.com/people/Die-Oberherren/100084144110543

https://dieoberherren.bandcamp.com/album/die-by-my-hand