Multi-national horror obsessed Death Metal troupe Heads for the Dead follow up their 2022 album The Great Conjuration with a 5 track E.P paying homage to horror classics.

If you have heard the aforementioned long player or any of their other releases since inception in 2017 you will know what horrors await you.

Wombbath’s Jonny Petterson is the twisted mortician behind these cadaverous ditties (see I am getting into the spirit) alongside Revel In Flesh’s Ralph Hauber whose old school DM vocals spew all over the death n roll stylings.  The tracks all address the loss of belief and living through extreme situations using as their muse some of the best horror and thriller movies of the past.

Those headbanging grooves are supplied by Petterson, of course, along with ex Wombbath drummer Jon Rudin and Matt Moliti of Sentient Horror.  There are hints of symphonic black metal a la Cradle of Filth amongst the quintet here as well as some melodeath and I am a little disappointed in the cleanliness of the E.P. The last thing I heard by Heads for the Dead was the E.P Slash N Roll with was a lot of fun and had a gnarly Entombed punky feel.

That is not to say that this E.P is without its merits.  I will kick convention in the nuts like the kid in Monster Squad (Wolfman has nards!) and begin at the end with Possession. This is not a cover of either Danzig or Sisters of Mercy but rather a re-imagining of Mike Oldfields multiplatinum selling Tubular Bells.

The band take the keys of the original and layer on some filthy blackened death metal over the top to give Regan some foot on the monitor moments whilst her heads spins round (rather than bangs) and she feels a little cross (geddit). The infamous refrain weaves in and out of the track to great effect and the gravel throated “Priest where is your God now?” is followed by an Andy LeRocque style solo that had me grinning like a pea soup spewing Pazuzu. It’s a corker of a track and hands down the pick of the bunch.

So – much like the old VHS days that the album harks back to I better rewind. Opener Heart of Darkness takes us on a trip down that delta river via Gothenburg. From the opening riff Petterson is wearing his Swedish flag proud – proper Scandi DM. Bits of early Inflames and Arch Enemy (Pilgrim Man era) abound with some Doom/Death overtones.  Taste of Terror that follows reminds me a little of Dani Filth’s side project “Devilment” in some of the vocal stylings and the structure of the song – although Heads for the Dead are a lot more Blackened Death in their stylings than the more vaudeville ambience of the Filthlings.

The God Forsaken is a title track of sorts and brings a more sombre feel with a lilting Paradise Lost style bleakness and a pseudo choral section that kinda works. The guitar solo is a little meandering but soon returns to a chonky bit of riffage for a big ending.

Obvious lyrics. They are a bug bear. Them and actors obviously carrying empty coffee cups on TV (let it go Mason) . You know the lyrics I mean – “Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak – somewhere in the town” – yeah in the fucking Jail Phil. Chained up in Chains under the moonlight. C’mon man!

So Heads For the Dead add Self Immolation in Fire to my list. Stating the bleeding (or smouldering) obvious aside the track is a slice of Amon Amarth style melodic death metal with massive lumps of early 90’s UK doom death – think the mopey 3. It’s got plenty of flange for your florin if not bang for your buck.

All in all, In the Absence of Faith is an interesting trip down a well-trodden path – it could certainly take any new listeners lured in by the cool artwork and subject matter on a nostalgic trawl to the 90’s and early noughties. That Exorcist track is a head-turner though!

(6.5/10 Matt Mason)

https://www.facebook.com/headsforthedead

https://pulverised.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-absence-of-faith