Panic

If you want to listen to this album, you should know that it’s completely different from the previous ones. In the late 80’s Death SS have been an important in the heavy metal scene, but then they decided to transform themselves in something different…a questionable choice: they could continue to play heavy/speed metal, maybe releasing some bad work or they could try to evolve in some new direction. They choose the second way and I think that they succeeded in their aim.

Let’s start from the title, which is a pun between the substantive “panic” (fear) and the adjective “panic” (referred to the god Pan, the Greek goat god of nature and of all). In the song “Panic” the lyrics suggest exactly that the title has nothing to do with fear, but they refer to the aforementioned god who is also shown on the cover of the album.

The vocals by Steve Sylvester alternate from slightly guttural (classic style for an industrial work to be clear) to the classic tone that have characterized all the older albums. Remarkable in this full-length are both bass and drums: the first can be appreciated in “Equinox of the Gods” (that opens with a strong bass solo) or in “Tallow Doll”. The drums can be very aggressive, not only in “Let the Sabbath Begin!” but also in “Panic” and “Hi-Tech Jesus”. Guitar’s chords are heavy and marked, for example in “The Cannibal Queen”.

The best track is, in my opinion, “Let the Sabbath Begin!”, that MUST be always preceded by “Paraphernalia”. In fact the intro raises the adrenalin that is discharged only when guitar and drums strike you in the beginning of the second track… and so you realize that you’ve entered in the “Teatro Pánico” of which the voice was talking about. Surely this song is the ideal to open a gig, if you listen to it, you can easily imagine why…

The album alternates moments of wired industrial metal, with moments of slower tracks with techno influences. After the catchy “Hi-Tech Jesus” it begins the slow/electronic part: in these three songs fits also a clean female voice, that integrates well with the atmosphere of the songs (e.g. “Lady of Babylon”).

The tone raises again in “The Cannibal Queen”, but it’s quickly lowered in “Tallow Doll”. The album continues in this way until the end, finishing with the outro “Auto Sacramental”.

Conlusions:
A new Death SS that acts well in the industrial scene. Recommended for lovers of electronic/industrial metal, something like “Eternal” from Samael, in my opinion.

Death SS are a weird band. Everything they did in their career was shocking. The image they have, the behaviour, the lyrics…everything. In the early years the doom/speed/heavy metal was the main genre played by these young musicians and going on they were able to shock us also from the point of view of the musical changes. Going on, the new direction has become always more and more evident and audible. Already from Heavy Demons something was changing and there was more melody in their sound, while in Do What Thou Wilt the keyboards were far more present and now very rooted in a sound that was taking a new direction, more “modern” and experimental if we want.

From this mixture of old and new, we could enjoy lots of excellent songs (Do What Thou Wilt was great to me) and the new album Panic was throwing this genre even further in innovation and originality. They’ve always been very original but this time, the electronic music added to their typical sound is really something new, but not for this so good like the past band’s genre. Let’s make this clear, with Black Mass they reached the top if we are talking about the old period, while with Do What Thou Wilt if we refer ourselves to the new one. This new album is sufficient, but I never liked the band’s new direction from now on.

The music here is heavily inspired by the most modern side of the band and also the line up has changed a lot in the years, so the new members brought new influences and new sounds with them. The intro “Paraphenalia” is made of strange voices while with “Let The Sabbath Begin” we can taste the real music. The first approach to this song could result catchy and pleasant but going on we can hear a band that has completely changed the style. Everything, from the production to the sounds, is more artificial, martial and cold. The keyboards are far more present and the drums tempo is on the classic monotonous and cold alternation of the snare to the bass drum.

The refrain is repeated many times and it’s quite obvious without being bad. The simplicity of the songs on this album is astonishing. Few, simple riffs, catchy refrains and terribly plastic and artificial drums parts. “Hi Tech Jesus” follows this path but the tempo is a bit faster this time. The distorted, echoing vocals and the ultra catchy choruses on the refrain are so similar to any song by Marilyn Manson and this thing disturbs me a lot. I must admit that these songs are really catchy and perfect for a live gig, to sing with the crowd (I did hear them live so I can do this remark) but they are not completely in Death SS style.

So we pass through the female vocals parts and the theatrical melodies of “Lady of Babylon” and the pompous march of “Equinox of the Gods” reflecting and complaining about the total absence of those fast parts, once so evocative in their raw but obscure heaviness. With “Ishtar” we reach the top for techno (not technical) parts in inserts. I imagine how this song could be good for a party by all those stupid, annoying dark fancy boys with their depressed way of thinking and their continued will to annoy the society, without understanding that, at the end, they are just wanky human beings. “Cannibal Queen” and “Rabies Is a Killer” are heavier for the guitars but the refrains are almost stupid, especially if we talk about the one on the second track.

The speed is almost absent and the keyboards are childish. The vocals by Steve seem to have lost all the power of the past even if during the live gigs he is always great with the old tracks. Here everything is made (or planned, better) to be as catchy as possible. Almost nothing has remained of the past obscurity or brutality. This album can be easily labelled as “Techno/gothic/ dark” and I don’t put the world “metal” after because it’s difficult to find something here related to that genre that Death SS had always done so well before this forced, planned sell out effort. Well, at least it’s catchy…