II: Crush the Insects

Reverend Bizarre is a band which has been consistently recommended to me when I tell people I like traditional doom metal. The first song I heard from them, Cromwell, certainly piqued my interest, as it's a super fun, catchy song about England's one and only dictator. Needless to say, I loved it, and so I sought out the album it came from: Reverend Bizarre's second LP, Crush the Insects. I will say, those first three songs are absolute bops; but after that, the album somewhat loses its charm. This is unfortunate, since after Cromwell concludes, about 2/3rds of the album has yet to be played, and to me, it just never gets as good as that first 1/3rd again.

These later songs maintain an unwavering commitment to slow doom metal. The band plays long stretches of music which is as crushingly heavy as it is crushingly slow. But in doing so, they don't give the listener many surprises. They do deviate from this formula once or twice, such as the ending section of Council of Ten, which is a bouncy, faster section a la the first three tracks. There is a similar section in the middle of By This Axe, though they end up returning to slow doom once again by the end of that track. I liked how cheesey and over the top the vocals sometimes get during the slow parts of the album, which is another plus in my book. What I'm really saying here though, is: if you don't want to hear a lot of slow doom metal, then around 60% of this album just isn't for you.

The beginning of the album seems to take influence from early doom metal such as Saint Vitus, which is a big plus for me. Aside from Cromwell, which is one of their biggest tracks, we have Doom Over the World and Devil Rides Out, both of which are groovy, retro-style doom tracks with stoner rock influences. Doom Over the World is their most listened-to track on Spotify by far, which totally makes sense. It's the first track on the album, but also features a very infectious, sing-along chorus. This would make for a killer live experience, but alas, it's one I'll never be able to see, since the band broke up in 2007. Devil Rides Out features a plethora of chunky, bluesy riffs, which remind me a lot of early Black Sabbath. I would say it's slightly less catchy than Cromwell and Doom Over the World, but that doesn't mean it's bad or anything: far from it. Cromwell was my very first Reverend Bizarre track, and remains a favorite of mine to this day. It's heavy, doomy in that classic, traditional way, and those vocals are charming as hell (oh yeah!!). This one gives me Pentagram vibes, and would be right at home alongside tracks from their second album, Day of Reckoning. All in all, the beginning of Crush the Insects is very great.

So, this album presents two totally different vibes: groovy, bouncy doom and slow, heavy doom. There is more of the latter, which I'm not too crazy about, but the beginning is epic as hell, so it puts me in a tough spot as far as giving the album a grade. In fairness, I think the true problem here is that there is way more of the slow stuff than not, so it becomes a bit of a hard listen for me. Aside from the aforementioned variations, unwaveringly slow tempos dominate this release for too long. Had they written one or two more songs in the style of Cromwell in order to balance out the two vibes they were going for, this album would be a lot better. But as it stands, Crush the Insects ends up coming off as a good album, rather than a great one.

Now that I have your attention, let's talk about this strange release that had the honour of being the follow up to the classic "In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend".

Reverend Bizarre has always had this gimmick about "traditional doom metal" and that has not only been reflected in the band's promotional image but also in their way of approaching their music and more specifically the doom metal genre, with extremely slow and lethargic themes that encouraged the creation of their own musical universe composed by an amazing density. That's why the beginning of this album is so confusing, the work was promoted with the phrase "The Biggest Sell-out in True Doom" and the first three tracks of the album are a confirmation of the Finnish band's break with the commitment of making traditional doom metal and they embark on a series of more rhythmic tracks clearly influenced by stoner rock where the mid tempo riffs shine with which you can't help but move your head, catchy and repetitive choruses and bridges that stick in your mind and create a first 19 minutes of partying and joyful atmosphere.

But with the fourth track the tone of the album changes, and doesn't look back, as if betraying traditional doom metal had been a deception, as if they were telling us that it's enough of having fun, now the serious stuff begins. The rest of "Crush the Insects" returns to the formula that made Reverend Bizarre stand out, but leaves us with two sides when it comes to approaching the rest of the songs on the album. One are extremely slow songs that maintain a thick and unvaried rhythm for many minutes with the aim of pushing the limits of the genre, sacrificing aggressiveness in favour of heaviness, the other are songs that for a large part use this same heavy and slow formula to reach a peak point where the rhythm accelerates and by the simple fact of the contrast it will reinforce that moment which is the culmination of a whole previous construction. Honestly there are very rare cases where the songs that follow the first mentioned pattern don't bore me, and this album is not an exception, the already mentioned break of rhythm of the album is marked by the song "Slave of Satan" which is so extremely and extremely boring that it puts my patience to the limit, Reverend Bizarre have written longer songs than this one but they managed to provide it with dynamics that kept the interest even though it lasted longer, here we have a song that keeps the same pattern for almost the whole track and when it finally seems to get to something interesting it just feels totally insufficient, the static part has killed almost any kind of flow it could develop.

Luckily the rest of the songs (with the exception of "Eternal Forest" which follows the same boring pattern as the song I just talked about) manage to have much more interesting dynamics while maintaining the characteristic essence of the finnish band, the songs follow the classic build up trope to reach the high point of the song and end in a similar way as the song starts to have a completely satisfying circular experience, and they make it clear in this work how those parts in the middle of the song where the band picks up speed are when they really shine, the selection of riffs is the best accompanied by memorable choruses thanks to Albert Witchfinder's exaggerated vocal style (salute to "By This Axe I Rule! "and its harmonised chorus leaving one of the best moments of the whole album).

Even with its fun tone and a good amount of functional songs, the songs that don't work are as heavy as an anchor and not in vain drag the enjoyment that the album can offer, even with its anthems and well-crafted songs "Crush the Insects" remains a work that doesn't reach its potential and leaves bad experiences too deep to be compensated by all its qualities.

Before they split up, this trio of traditional doomsters from Finland, a country better known for funeral doom and melodic death/doom, was all the rage in the then trendy stoner/sludge/doom scene. It is within such a context that they produced an anthem like “Doom Over the World,” a song that really only makes sense as a self-conscious celebration of that feeling, when it suddenly seemed, at least in certain circles, like everyone was listening to doom (just look at the boom of acts featured in Roadburn between 2001 and 2007). Coming at a snail pace, with absolutely massive crushing Sabbathy riffs, it’s really no wonder Reverend Bizarre made such a noise.

However, as I listen to them now, many years later, I fail to see what’s so great about an album like II: Crush the Insects, praised as it was. You see, the thing about doom (and stoner) metal is that listening to crushing, slow riffs feels good, especially live, when you literally feel them crashing over you like a tsunami, bathing you in their evil aura. But this is deceptive, as it leads one to believe that just playing the same riff over and over and over and over, simply because it feels good, like you’re getting a sonic massage, is acceptable songwriting. So it’s easy for a band, talented as they might be (and Reverend Bizarre is talented, I grant you that), to fall into this kind of self-indulgence.

But OK, you know this is a negative review, so let me get this out of the way first: there are some quite enjoyable things in this album. I like Albert Witchfinder’s brand of histrionic vocals in the vein of Saint Vitus, which are all over the place, switching from chanting to nearly growling to the occasional falsetto and what I can only describe as very boastful, full-chested, heroic recitation. They also nailed the guitar sound, which feels like a 50 ft brick wall collapsing over your head. And when they play mid-paced groovy doom, they make some excellent, rocking riffs. The songs written in that mood — “Doom Over the World,” “The Devil Rides Out,” and “Cromwell” — are absolutely addictive.

However, these three songs make up only the first 18 minutes of this album, and “The Devil Rides Out,” as awesome as its main riff is, already comes close to wearing out its welcome (you’ll start feeling weary as that riff comes up for the third time and there’s still half of its 6 minutes left before it’s over). But by the time “Slave of Satan” rears its heavy head, everything’s ruined. This is so slow, you can listen to it at 2x speed and it stills sounds like a doom metal song. Even at 2x speed, though, it’s hard to discern any logic in what the guitar’s doing, what it’s playing can’t even be called riffs, really. It’s just loose notes and chords, meandering without going anywhere, for 13 migraine-inducing minutes. This falls somewhere around the most drawn out types of doom, though devoid of the miserable but majestic feel of Skepticism’s or Shape of Despair’s funeral doom, the psychedelia of Dopesmoker or the plain, fun inventive weirdness of the Melvins.

The four remaining songs then, all of which clock in at between 8 and almost 12 minutes, follow this same pattern, either featuring no riffs at all or running a riff to the ground—“Fucking Wizard” being the worst offender, as it repeats its tritone forever, without variation. To make matters worse, this is a blatant ripoff of Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath.” And the lyrics are bloody stupid to boot—one somewhat funny idea extended on a Procrustean bed. The only long song here that truly goes anywhere is “By This Axe I Rule!”, which is still kind of stupid, but has an evil-sounding bass that drives it through its riffless first part, and then beautifully bursts into that nice, crushing groove.

All things considered, it’s hard not to see Reverend Bizarre as a parody of the doom genre. There’s the self-awareness, the lack of earnestness or personal songs and doing it all by the numbers, the deliberate cranking of all that is doomy up to eleven, the faux-Britishness—noticeable both in the fake accent and the obsession with British history what with puritans and Oliver Cromwell (whose song doesn’t even make sense and bizarrely alludes to Crowley in the end. Is mixing up Cromwell and Crowley the joke here? If it is, I guess it is kind of funny). My take is that if you were to get the three listenable songs from II: Crush the Insects and add the good songs there are from their other two full-length albums, which also suffer from the same issue of parodic self-indulgence, then you could maybe get a whole hour of pretty sweet material. I think this is the only way to actually enjoy Reverend Bizarre without being stoned out of your mind.

There are not so many bands that deserve true adoration. I'm talking about bands with flawless musicians and a superhuman ability of being in cohesion enough to create music that sounds simply perfect, not failing in transmitting strong feelings nor in writing great lyrics. One of these bands is Reverend Bizarre, that came out with this great true doom metal album narrated by the battle cries of Albert Witchfinder. Leaving Black Sabbath aside as a band beyond comparison, this may be the magnum opus of doom metal.

Well, it's been two years since I first listened to this album, and my first impression of awe still runs when I put this on. From the heavy intro of Doom Over the World to the agonising final solo of Fucking Wizard, this masterpiece from Reverend Bizarre goes beyond epic. I believe the meaning of the different songs in this piece of art sounds unconnected at a first glance, but if you take a careful look, it's all there. The Glorious Revolution, the fall of Venice, the decline of sorcery, great battles, decrepit dictatorships... The epically well-written poetic lyrics they sing make this a concept album about the fall of the "modern age", with its songs being acts for this symphony about these three chaotic centuries between the Middle Ages and our time.

Still under the motto of "Lohja power", their doom metal is as strong and sinister as it's ever been. It's impossible not to associate them to older bands such as Candlemass and Solitude Aeternus, that helped giving doom metal a name with their battle-inspiring songs. Upbeat tempos, a well-articulated base and very heavy riffs going through the songs characterise their awesome style. While some songs such as "Slave of Satan" and "Fucking Wizard" are slow and bluesy, with an atmosphere that holds some kind of mystery, some others such as "Doom Over the World" and "Cromwell" are pure epicness. "Doom Over the World", by the way, is a great example of how great can a solo be without great sophistication. A simple structure, but a strong feeling.

To Albert's vocals, I'll use the same word I used to describe A. A. Nemtheanga in my review for "To the Nameless Dead", despite all the difference between their performances: monumental. He truly incorporates the feelings of every story the band is poetically telling, creating some kind of immersion into their epical atmosphere. The instrumentation also collaborates to the great pace their music assumes. Albert's riffing is as crushing as in any other work of the band, while Peter's massive galloping bass lines and Jari's sober drumming mark their presence to embody the music as it deserves.

This album, despite not receiving as much attention as many others in the same style, has always being a milestone to me. I recommend anyone that enjoys good doom or heavy metal to have a listen. This band is flawless, and, this album, a masterpiece.

When Reverend Bizarre released their second album, ‘II: Crush the Insects’ you’d be forgiven for at first believing that the band had commercialised their sound.

The first track, ‘Doom Over the World’ is based on a simple, upbeat and, for Reverend Bizarre standards at least, fast gallop that sounds nothing at all like the slow, gloomy and ridiculously heavy Reverend Bizarre of the previous album and EPs. To add to your fears, the band even proclaim that they have indeed sold out by issuing stickers with the album’s CD cases stating ‘The Biggest Sell-out in True Doom’.

These songs are more similar to bands like Cathedral than earlier Reverend Bizarre but the thing is, despite being slightly more simple, they’re all very, very good. These songs do not quite match up to the dark atmosphere created by Bizarre’s epics, but despite being much easier to listen to and more accessable are still heavy and slow enough to satisfy most doom fans. The riffs are all very catchy and memorable, and this simplified approach doesn’t take away from the band’s quality, but adds another dimension to the music.

However, the album does not stay like this. After 3 of these upbeat songs, the second side of the album changes completely as Reverend Bizarre return to more familiar territory. The change is instantly noticeable. The first song of the second side, ‘Slave of Satan’, opens with a ponderous bass-line supported by rising symbols and drums, and then goes straight into an immense crushing riff. Apart from at a few short places, the music doesn’t speed up again, but remains at a relentlessly slow pace and focuses more on creating a dark and gloomy atmosphere. Despite being so slow, it never really gets boring because the band manage to create this melancholy atmosphere so perfectly.

These songs are still quite catchy despite the tempo, but the first side of the album doesn’t really prepare for them so listening to the album all at once can make these songs sound much more boring than they actually are. Because of this it probably would have been better to put the songs in a different order instead of keeping the extremes to different sides of the album. There are still faster and more energetic parts of certain songs during the second half of the album though, which manage the retain the same crushing atmosphere, so this is only a minor complaint though and the music is always consistently gripping.

Vocalist Albert Witchfinder changes his singing style to fit with the music, switching to a more ‘epic’ singing style similar to that used by doom bands such as Candlemass. He doesn’t have the range and sometimes doesn’t quite manage to achieve this, but it doesn’t really matter as the singing still adds to the atmosphere, sounding as if it is trapped under the crushing guitars and most of the time he keeps his singing more restrained. His lyrics are quite well written, especially for a non-native speaker. Like on the EP ‘Return to the Rectory’ (where the band claimed that Christina Ricci is the goddess of doom) the lyrics are usually quite humorous, with songs like ‘Fucking Wizard’ mixing quite serious, dark music with ridiculous lyrics about a wizard having sex.

As always with Reverend Bizarre, the musicianship is all excellent quality. Albert Witchfinder also plays the bass, which features prominently, creating a lot of the heaviness and also adding in interesting fills and bass-lines to keep the music alive. The drumming is also excellent. On the second half of the album it is especially impressive. While the drums are usually very sparse, they add perfectly to the music, coming in at just the right time and building up slowly. All of the guitar riffs are great and there are also some fantastic melodic solos. The songs are structured perfectly, never going on for too long, and always change before they can become dull.

Many of the songs are homages to Reverend Bizarre’s influences. ‘Fucking Wizard’ especially is very similar to Black Sabbath’s classic self-titled song, only heavier. There are also many similarities to other doom bands such as Witchfinder General. Despite any similarities though, Reverend Bizarre never sound like they’re stealing, but always sound completely genuine.

Overall, ‘II: Crush the Insects’ is an excellent album. It’s not quite as strong as the debut and the 2 sides may contrast each other a bit too much but it still manages to create the same excellent atmosphere with a light-hearted humorous attitude.

‘In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend’ was the sound of a witches Sabbath at the circle of dawn, brewing their foul potions of lizard, bat and Finish moonshine distilled in a bath tub. ‘Crush the Insects’, was something different altogether. “When shall we three meet again”, inquired the one who looks a bit like Sean Bean, “In thunder, lightning or in rain?”. “No”, spake the one who looks more like a gothic Grandma, “In full Puritan garb”. Puritans, to me at least, don’t really scream heavy metal, they banned Christmas, which has always been a prime time for heavy drinking and acquiring new albums …but maybe this is just a Catholic upbringing speaking. To Reverend Bizarre however, the Puritans are very much the new model (army?) for metal. Cromwell’s quest for religious purity and piety is apparently the mould for the Reverend’s striving for the purest doom metal. Actually, Cromwell’s warts make him look a tad like Lemmy, perhaps he listened to ‘At War with Satan’ whilst putting Irish babies on spikes.

For me, the most striking thing about Reverend Bizarre is the vocals. Sir Albert Witchfinder sings with a put on English accent that is similar to what many English bands actually sung in in the 70s and early 80s. Nowadays, no fucker in England actually sings like this, it tends to be put on Cockney/Scouse/Sheffield accent or whatever happens to be in vogue this week. Strangely enough, this English style of singing has migrated to Scandinavia as the feller in Witchcraft also sings with a similar tone.

Despite this doom metal piety and saying Áve María to Iommi every night before bed (or whatever Protestants do, probably eating babies and being frivolous with contraception), here Reverend Bizarre have successfully married shorter more accessible numbers with their standard epic doom workouts. The short accessible ones, though still rather heavy numbers are a clear nod to NWOBHM bands such as the perennially over-valued Witchfinder General, a true testament to the aforementioned band’s elevated status is that these tracks are better than anything Zeeb Parkes and co. ever achieved. ‘Doom Over the World’ is a rollicking start and surprisingly up tempo, even if the vocals suggest that this spreading of doom is a Herculean task and a sombre duty rather than a joy, spread by the hammer and the crushing of heretical skulls. ‘Doom Over the World’ musically is very simple based on that VI-VII-I chord progression (the same one Maiden use loads) in the verse and the other progressions are equally simple, however Albert’s vocal impassioned vocal delivery make it still a compelling listen, and I’ll never scorn anyone for playing it musically simple. ‘The Devil Rides Out’, based on one of my favourite novels and Hammer films, is even more easy-going, in fact its main riff is only note away from the age old Sabbath classic ‘Sweet Leaf’. Lyrically, this really is a fantastic song, Albert’s command of the English language is exceptional (what is with this foreigners putting us to shame so often!). Also of note is the wonderful chiming guitar solo, this all somewhat earthy in its execution is far most invigorating than sweep-picked runs. Peter Vicar, both in tone and approach, reminds me of Hawkwind’s Dave Brock, who also utilises solos that are far more about tone and atmosphere rather than the actual notes he’s playing. On a doom record such as this, I can remember thinking I was to expect Iommi homage’s throughout the lead work, however this reference to a far more unsung influence on metal, Hawkwind, is most welcome.

In true 70s fashion Reverend Bizarre have divided an album into two clear parts, the first containing the more brief tracks and the second consisting of doom epics mostly in excess of ten minutes. ‘Council of Ten’ is a familiar tale of witchcraft and all sorts of occulted guile, very much established in metal yet nonetheless harrowing. The idea of the three witches expressed in the lyrics is often used, for instance in Macbeth and originally in Norse mythology in the form of the Norns (indeed, the very name of the ‘Weird Sisters’ comes from the Norns as the Old English Wyrd is too based on the concept of Fate, and the name Urðr, a prominent Norn, is Old Norse for Fate ). Musically, the song utilises the same tempo changes established in the primeval metal classic ‘Black Sabbath’. ‘By this Axe I Rule’ is the sort of thing the outside world deems all metalheads to obsess over, the malignant slaughter of a hapless lover. In truth, only 70% of the metal community dreams of such events, the other 30% being far too preoccupied with goat farming for the purpose of Satanic ritual to even have time for such idle pipe dreams. It is perhaps ironic, if intentional, that after this violent song we have the romanticised and beautiful, ‘Eternal Forest’. Certainly from a band who issued this album with stickers proclaiming themselves sellouts, I could suspect a little humour in this pacing. Anyway, the sweeping, despondent doom of ‘Eternal Forest’, I could imagine, is a perfect soundtrack to the endless forests and lakes of that make-believe land, Finland.

Furthering some irony (or at least a reflection of the dire state of modern metal) is that Reverend Bizarre’s second full length is one of the better modern metal albums around. Despite the fact that it is unashamedly retro in sound and style. Oh well. But fans of traditional doom that manages to pay homage to the fathers of the genre should certainly check out ‘Crush the Insects’ and you can trust me that it’s a hell of a lot better than what followed.

With Crush the Insects Reverend Bizarre unleashed their second official full album onto the metal scene. It seems rather unlikely that they will be able to reach the same levels of awesomeness as they did with In The Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend, but on the other hand it would not be fair compairing those two with eachother as they differ quite a bit in execution. Crush the Insects starts off in a monumental way with Doom Over the World a true Reverend classic song, but not the best on this album and that's saying a lot. Around the first minute you'll immediately notice in what aspect Crush the Insects differs from In The Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend. Things are progressing less slowly more up-tempo while Albert again excels in the vocal department. The first three songs follow roughly the same structure, up-tempo with a somewhat epic thouch. However the faster approach only continues for so long, because things take a drastic turn when Slave of Satan kicks in. The pace drops quite a bit to say the least. Again Slave of Satan is a song where Albert really shines out.


Next up is Council of Ten one my personal favorties from Crush the Insects. Especially in the lyrical department and general song structure. It starts off where Slave of Satan left off, an omnious beginning followed by a standout riff that evokes the kind of atmosphere that has made Reverend Bizarre great. The dual vocalwork also works perfect adding an extra dimension to the music. Both lyrically and musically, they complement eachother wonderwell during Council of Ten - the reason why this is such a stellar song. At the six minute turn it starts to speed up a bit again followed by excellent guitarplay leading to the end of one of the highlights of the entire record. Crush the Insects is more than a worthy follow-up to In The Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend and while slightly different in execution than the aforementioned one, it still contains the typical Reverend Bizarre elements that make them so successful. These two albums are among the best material Reverend Bizarre have released. The third chapter is not nearly as good as the first two chapters, but that's not a shame since they are of truly outstanding quality that will surely stand the test of time and will remain camp classics for many years to come.

First off, I need to express my deep sadness with regards to the recent split of the Reverend - they are, in my views, one of the greatest bands of all time. As a sort of tribute to their legacy, I will write a few reviews of their CDs, starting with this mammoth second full-length offering, "Crush the Insects".

It features the first tracks I actually heard by the band - "Doom Over the World" and "The Devil Rides Out". These two tracks are very upbeat traditional Doom, in a Witchfinder General sort of way, along with the following track "Cromwell". Though I loved these tracks from first hearing them (they made me go out and purchase the CD) they are a poor representation of the Reverend as a whole, as I gleefully found out...

Playing the album for the first time, feeling the traditional vibe of these three opening tracks, I was not expecting the thundering, crushing, leviathan track "Slave of Satan" to follow the rocking trio. Words cannot describe how devastating this track is!! A mere 13 minutes, (the single release long version breaking the 20 minute barrier - which by the way debuted into the Finnish charts at #2) it is a masterpiece of Doom Metal, this colossal track made me completely forget about the preceding tracks that I had grown to love without knowing how the "true" Reverend sounded. From here on in - just like second half of one of the best Doom releases ever, Sleep's Holy Mountain - the songs are much longer, (all around 10 minutes), slower, and darker. This track alone is worth the purchase, though I obviously recommend you purchase the single version of the track!

Moving on, "Council of Ten" is another one of the better tracks - purely because it captures everything I liked about the former half of the album (both slow and fast) and condenses it into 8 minutes. The dual vocals here work very well, and the riffs are amazing (as always). The production of the album is very good, without being overproduced. Following this is my favourite track (if I was forced to pick one) "By This Axe I Rule". Hearing how incredibly evil and thoroughly Doom the first half was, I think my head actually exploded (better now, thanks), almost like what My Dying Bride would sound like if they were a bit more traditional Doom. It moves on to another upbeat section featuring groovy wah-ing guitars and Albert's ever-magnificent vocals.

The last two tracks are both epic, and I would like particularly to mention how thoroughly Sabbath "Fucking Wizard" is - a true homage to the metal giants as if the liner notes in the booklet weren't enough.

All in all, one of my best purchases ever - the accidental discovery of a band that was so much more than I expected. ALL HAIL THE REVEREND!

"Reverend Bizarre seem to be having quite a bit of fun here," is what I observed upon hearing the first few tracks of this new record. The band had jokingly commented prior to its release that this would be a more "commercial" album, and well, they were almost right!

But damn me if it isn't really addictive and fantastic metal. Yes, they've always had some upbeat sections sprinkled conservatively through the trudge and gloom of their usual fare, but it seems as though they've learned to "rock out" on this release. Maybe they've just upped their alcohol intake, or perhaps they've been listening to more Witchfinder General and mid-period Cathedral, but whatever the case, the first three tracks on "Crush the Insects" are not lumbering and plodding monstrosities, but instead rather bouncy and catchy affairs. Make no mistake though, the pounding rhythms and drony Sabbath-inspired riffing will leave no doubt in anybody's mind that this is still doom metal; just perhaps of a less downtrodden and almost celebratory sort. I admit though, that after the third "rockin" track, I was starting to get just a little bit worried, not because I wasn't enjoying what I was hearing, but because a Reverend without the damnable gloom just didn't seem right.

Luckily, my fears were quickly allayed as soon as "Slave to Satan" slowly crawled and wormed its way into my cranium, for it is a mammoth of a track, and about as dooooooooooooom as it is possible to get, its ponderous chording and subtle use of guitar harmony reminding me more than a little of "Forest of Equilibrium". I mentioned Cathedral earlier, as well, and this is no coincidence, for it seems that the Reverend may be evolving in a similar way to the British doom giants. Whereas one could liken their previous output somewhat to the early Cathedral era, "Crush the Insects" is to the Reverend what "The Ethereal Mirror" was to Cathedral. This means that although there are some puzzlingly happy sounding bits, they're still tempered with a healthy amount of sludge.

And really, one shouldn't turn their nose up at a band who can loosen up a bit and crank up the tempo a notch after downing a few shots-worth of Finlandia. For albert's bass is still a thick wall of unstoppable force, and Earl of Void's drums are still as charismatic as ever, even if I seem to detect some simplistic sloppiness that seems properly injected to further the atmosphere of depraved rock n roll the tracks up to and including "Cromwel" generate. "Doom over the World" starts out the album with a crawling, ominous introduction before Peter Vicars' guitar leads in with the main, stolidly mid-paced and loping gait of the song. This one actually makes me think a little of Goat Horn, a band local to my area which I know Reverend Bizarre are fans of. It's catchy, simple, with a steady marching pace, and...a gang chorus!!! In a doom song? Yep, it's true, and it sounds excellent! The ending is a little strange as the band seems to pay homage to Deep Purple's "A Child in Time" with all the noise and out of control high-pitched shrieking, followed by some bizarre mucking about that serves no purpose but luckily only lasts for about forty seconds. "The Devil Rides Out" and "Cromwel" make me think of Witchfinder General as they tell their gleeful tales of satanic sabbaths and excess. Both these songs are too catchy and infectious to have a right to exist, and I certainly can't see why someone wouldn't enjoy them.

While the first three tracks describe the glee of apocalypse and of the abandonment of a soul to the devil, "Slave to Satan" marks the turning point into despair and agony. It also signifies Reverend Bizarre's return to *true* doom and paradoxically is where the album becomes a bit more experimental in other ways. "By This Axe I Rule!", based on the works of Robert E. Howard, is very possibly my favourite track on this disc. It starts out with a brilliant dirge played on bass and guitar, with Master Albert's deep, sonorous and occasionally very haunting and emotive vocals taking centre stage as they tell the tale of the barbarian and his lust for both Death and Life. The drums soon join in, and the song winds its way through some passages that will reduce most listeners to dust with their elephantine wait. Then we get the Reverend's tribute to black metal, which seems to surface on nearly every release of theirs in one form or another. This one sounds fairly Norse inspired and takes place at a loping tempo. There are some decent leads placed throughout this section of the song, and the vocals are clean and exuberant, which provides an interesting contrast since I could completely imagine Albert using harsh screams for this bit. This will definitely make you feel the power of the Barbarian King as he rides his stallion into the hunt, bloodlust in his eyes and gore dripping from his axe. Then we get an abrupt descent into a slow maelstrom of chords and feedback and harsh vocal noise that for the briefest of moments makes one think, "oh gosh, now they're turning into Esoteric!" before a theme that mirrors the song's beginning creeps in at a snail's pace and repeating dirge-like before fading into oblivion.

The following tracks continue in the slower formula, albeit with shorter rocking sections thrown in sporadically. "Fucking Wizard" seems to be Reverend Bizarre's take on "Black Sabbath" (the song, of course) with the mood altered somewhat by lusty, silly lyrics. It works, though, because although it's clear that the Reverend has a sense of humour it's handled in such a way that it doesn't seem to come off as being forced or damage the atmosphere of otherwise serious music.

There's a lot to be said about Reverend Bizarre's formula, and certainly they aren't the most original band out there, but they combine styles in such an artful and balanced way that it all seems to fit together beautifully. I do sometimes wish that the solos were better, as they sound a bit flat and uninspired at times, as if Peter isn't quite sure what notes to play and hasn't totally mastered this improvisation thing yet. I also think it would have made more sense to space the first three songs more evenly throughout the album as they are definitely more upbeat than the remainder of the material here. However, these are minor gripes, for the songwriting, the sound, the cavernous drum attack (Earl of Void has got to be the best drummer in all of doom at the moment) and that sick, distorted bass sound move me like few other bands can, and even though it's always very easy to spot other influences in Reverend Bizarre's music, they create with such sincerity that what we get is an honest homage rather than a saccharine rip-off. I can't stop listening to this one, and more than anything else I think that is a testament to its strength--you *will* come back to it, time and again.