Review Summary: Bringing experimentation with a throughly doomed spirit
As V sees Saint Vitus moving into a new decade, one can sense a desire to move forward. The band’s classic doom style is largely intact, but having more tracks than before along with the musicians’ individual personalities getting even more focus results in more toying around with the formula. Their move from SST to the more genre-focused Hellhound Records also feels indicative of the shifts at play.
“When Emotion Dies” remains one of the band’s most exaggerated anomalies. On top of it being a rare acoustic ballad, the track sees a switching of roles as Wino provides the guitar strums while Dave Chandler provides the grizzled murmurs as a duet with guest singer Fiona McMillian’s echoing calls. I find myself wishing it was longer for the sake of more breathing space but it works as a neat little experiment that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
The band also devotes more time to the rocking out side that started creeping in on the last couple albums. “Living Backwards” and “Mind-Food” bookend the album with driving off-the-cuff chugs, the former feeling almost like a reprisal of “Born too Late” with similar theming, while the Mark Adams-written “Angry Man” packs its bitterness in some heavy double bass drumming and a rather catchy chorus. “Ice Monkey” is interesting in hindsight as its pushy hard rock hustle makes it an Obsessed song in all but name.
Even the slower excursions end up having their own sort of variety at play. “Patra (Petra)” (come on, guys, pick one) just might be the band’s most glacial song up to this point as it’s absurdly crawling riff set, colossal drum hits, and lamenting lyrics put in borderline drone territory. It’s also nice to see some reaching back as the minimalist nihilism of “I Bleed Black” would’ve fit right in on Born Too Late while the swirling feedback and winter theme on “Jack Frost” make it feel like a holdover from the Reagers era.
While V is a little shy of Saint Vitus’s absolute best, its a strong album that brings experimentation with a thoroughly doomed spirit. There are a couple songs that feel like they could’ve been finetuned a bit more but they also stand alongside some top tracks. I find myself wondering how the band could’ve fared had they gotten a boost from a guiding figure ala Rick Rubin, but they do pretty dang well on their own terms.
