Review Summary: The final chapter of Samhain offers a cohesive orgy of power transferal meant to be partaken by anyone stricken with a grave sense of societal dissatisfaction.
Looking back with rose-colored glasses is easy. What a nice view we have of the Misfits and Samhain in retrospect. Respectively both bands pioneered in punk and deathrock with their appealing horror and occult themes. I wasn't there. If I had been there, I'd probably have seen what people of the time say. Misfits was the McDonald's of the punk community. With their flashy paraphernalia and distinct iconography, they spoke to a creative faction of the listening audience. The creative faction is not always the currently appointed guard on the scene. After the failure to start that really was Misfits, Samhain spawned.
Samhain III: November-Coming-Fire wasn't meant to be the end of that saga.
Samhain Grim would have been part IV. Mystics say death is nothing but another beginning. With the Crystar comic art skull in tow, the beloved Danzig-skulled demon among skeletons in burst of flame, let's rip into this harsh relic of sado-masochistic deathrock.
Samhain ceremonial acts conclude with the beginning of November. What happens next can be heard when you press play. I hope you like that guitar tone on the first track. That brittle, gritty yet razor-sharp rhythm drives the entire album. I want more variation. I want the saw to stop slicing into my brain. Punk always seems to deliver with quality basslines and this album certainly competes in that area, so I am somewhat pleased with the arrangements. Then I remember I have the other Danzig albums.
November-Coming-Fire isn't a guitar album. The guitar is percussive and not intended as the main showcase. How spoiled we are to have the Danzig solo metal albums with their satisfying guitar solos and music-school worthy arrays of chord progressions. Anyone who loves any pre-Rubin project from Glenn speaks from foolishness when complaining about production on the post-Rubin albums. His greater catalog of art requires work on behalf of the listener. Put some effort in.
The songs on
November-Coming-Fire are all vehicles for phenomenal vocal performances. The tone and mood set the audience into the darkest moments of their lives. Paranoia and fear reign. Demons run amuck with sado-masochistic glee were one simply to close one's eyes and visualize the illustrations set to lyrics. Getting creative is key to what is happening here.
November-Coming-Fire isn't approved creation of the gatekeepers. This album is a DIY beast unleashed upon anyone who wanders within earshot. Forget the bloody claws and fangs, because you're in a thirty car pile up and going the rest of your life without legs. The demonic claws and bestial fangs are the greasy hands and slimy tongues of mistresses taking you for everything you're worth and leaving you in the dirt to die. Now the fiends are the backstabbing traitors who gaslit your entire path to utter depravity and extreme alienation. Steady, sturdy, driving drum patterns invite you to participate in existence.
November-Coming-Fire fails you if you see it as the soundtrack to your own listlessness and complacency. If apathy is your comfort state, move along quietly and quickly.
Samhain III speaks to the soul left shattered from life's repeated barrages of loss, chanting and howling the comeback to dominance. The vocal melodies are better than anything else branded as Samhain. The yelling summons the listener to match energies. Meeting Glenn on the stage he set for himself amidst adversity and accepting the challenge to seize the last moments of your life, open-minded and discerning creatives might be inclined to agree with the mystics. The reaper has arrived with fierce barks and hypnotic waves of sonic brutality. As your body twists, contorts, and breaks within the metallic trap closing in around you, your life finally begins.
