Review Summary: My least favourite album by them.
"Are you desirable? Are you irresistible? Maybe if you drank bourbon with me, it would help. Maybe if you kissed me and I could taste the sting in your mouth it would help. If you drank bourbon with me naked. If you smelled of bourbon as you ***ed me, it would help. It would increase my esteem for you. If you poured bourbon onto your naked body and said to me "drink this". If you spread your legs and you had bourbon dripping from your breasts and your pussy and said "drink here" then I could fall in love with you. Because then I would have a purpose. To clean you up and that, that would prove that I'm worth something. I'd lick you clean so that you could go away and *** someone else."
Nicolas Cage won an Oscar for his portrayal of a Hollywood screenwriter in Leaving Las Vegas where he sells everything and goes to LA to drink himself to death. It is my strong belief that Hangman's chair is highly influenced by this movie. Aside from naming this album Leaving Paris they also should a keen interest in killing themselves through excessive drinking in their debut album (A Lament for...) The Addicts. In their sophomore album with a new bassist and singer the band has gone for a heavier and more aggressive sound while still trying to keep the depressive edge intact.
The guitars are really heavy and loud here. The doom metal influence is toned down in this album. Still there are some good doomy riffs to be found. Will the Sun Set Today ends with a pretty cool doom metal section. But most of the album has a more southern metal sound. Heavy groove laden riffs dominate the songs which remind me of the NOLA supergroup Down. These riffs are often accompanied by distorted thunderous stoner metal style bass lines that makes the sound noisier and adds to the heaviness of the songs. While most of the album is heavy there are some soft keyboard parts as well. The opener Mourner's Parade starts with a lengthy keyboard intro that slowly builds the tension before the vocals kick in and guitars gradually get heavier.
Cédric Toufouti is the new vocalist in this album and his inclusion has created a lot of difference in the overall sound of the band. While Keo had a hopelessly drunk voice, Cédric is more melodic and upbeat. He can get somewhat weepy in the slower parts but I do miss the more miserable voice of Keo even though Cédric has a good sense of melody which is best demonstrated in Scarlet Star which is my favourite song in the album. It has a post-metal like climax which is really intense. It also doesn't have any guitar solo. There are some guitar solos to be found in this album. While they are not awful in any way, they are not very remarkable either. They don't really add much to the atmosphere instead merely function as interludes. A Fix for a Lovely Nod is another favourite song of mine. The song sounds like Alice In Chains got heavier and used lyrics from Dax Riggs. In fact, the lyrics in the whole album is inspired by Dax Riggs' writing. I love Dax Riggs and while he steals from various writers like Truddi Chase, Thomas Ligotti, Alan Moore etc. I would've preferred Hangman's Chair to at least take inspiration from more than one guy. They basically use the exact phrasing and wording as Dax.
Hangman's Chair's second album is faster, heavier and more upbeat than rest of their discography. While it still has a sense of despair and in no way a positive album, it still isn't as good as their other albums. Many of the songs drag along with real heavy groove laden riffs while the vocalist struggles to sing over the guitars. The band would later refine their sound by bringing more doom metal riffing which suits the vocalist better. This was just a transitional album for the band with a new lineup.
