Possession

Women have a strange place in the history of heavy music. When they're not in the band, they're marginalized, objectified, or targeted for lyrical and artistic violence. When they are in the band, they can be seen as a blatant appeal to sex, an automatic commercialization, or as lesser than their male counterparts. In reality, they've contributed a lot more than people recognize. Heart, Joan Jett, and Pat Benatar all made serious contributions to hard rock during metal's formative years. Christine Davis of Christian Mistress is continuing that tradition.

Possession is the band's second full-length. In truth, the selling point here is Davis's vocal talent. Her smoky voice recalls those pioneering hard rock women, and she's got more hooks on this record than "Barracuda," "Bad Reputation," and "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" combined. But if vocal hooks were all the record had to offer, I wouldn't be talking about it.

Underneath that old-school, hook-oriented vocal approach are three more layers of rock tradition. Seventies hard rock, NWOBHM, and doom metal combine for the full effect of all three genres: swagger, shred, and crush. The production sounds incredibly natural, while each instrument is audible and powerful. In other words, it does justice to the music.

There's really nothing else to say. Smoky voice, vocal hooks, catchy tunes, shredding guitars, solid bass and drums, old-school attitude. It's fantastic.

The Verdict: Possession makes Christian Mistress the first serious contender for album-of-the-year status. It is that good.

originally written for http://fullmetalattorney.blogspot.com/

Though written by yours truly, this review is brought to you courtesy of Fenriz from Darkthrone, without whose recommendations I may not yet have discovered the sensation that is Christian Mistress and for which my life would be a considerably poorer one. The great man himself said "they play heavy metal the old way" and I might finish off his sentence by adding "and the best way", as these Washington residents rock with a vibe historically reserved for classic acts like Thin Lizzy and more recent additions to the pantheon of heavy rock (to use a term CM would no doubt have been labelled with in the mid-70s) such as Hour of 13 and another female-fronted act, Jex Thoth. "Possession" is their second album and it has dominated my stereo and headphones recently like no other album for some time.

Taking the revivalist cue for bands of late to shun the modern, sanitized and copycat productions of most modern acts in favour of a gritty, sweaty, beer-soaked approach is only half the reason why "Possession" rocks harder than a donkey on steroids; the other half is the sheer quality of the songs from start to finish. The dual lead guitars of Oscar Sparbel and Ryan McClain frequently interplay to stunning effect, emphasized by the clear and uncluttered production, while the vocals of Christine Davis are those of a woman on a mission - her variations within the structure of "Possession", "Black to Gold" and most others recalls vintage, classic rock acts whose mouthpieces were a vehicle for controlling the direction of the instruments behind rather than merely a pleasant adornment on top. In "Pentagram and Crucifix" where the tempo is faster and more direct the band are in perfect sync, bridging fluidly from verse to chorus and back not allowing for a moment your head to stop it's involuntary banging, the whole band play with such evident passion that simply can only be gathered from an organic production like this.

"The Way Beyond", "All Abandon" and "There Is Nowhere" reveal quaint folk influences, before in the case of "There Is Nowhere" the tempo of the song's first half is broken by a bout of dual leads you'll have your air guitar tuned up and ready for action. In album closer "All Abandon" CM show the kind of ability in building a song slowly to a crescendo of balls-out rock'n'roll energy that separates the best from also-rans in this world and why the art of good songwriting is missing from the majority of technologically dependent acts these days.

At this point in time I'm finding it hard to pick out many negatives from "Possession". Yes, some tracks stand out more than others but so solid are all nine you will want to restart the album as soon as it finishes. In 2010 it was Enforcer, last year it was In Solitude and in 2012 it is Christian Mistress, proving that however unpopular and outdated it may appear to most, you cannot keep good heavy metal down. Make sure to keep an eye and an ear out for these guys and gal.

Originally written for www.Rockfreaks.net

I couldn't have expected anything less coming from this band, ever since I saw that beautiful cover resembling nothing but pure old school awesomeness, I was set, I had an idea of what I was gonna get from this record. However, it surpassed my expectations. Whatever flaw I found on the debut album, it's been perfected on Possession. Christine Davis is nothing but a goddess of heavy metal, the vocal melodies are as creative and great as before, if not even better, pure shiver-inducing magic. The lyrics are also one of her strongest points, you can tell she sings from the heart and her heart is made of lust, witchery, occultism, psychedelic drugs and lots passion. You get the idea.

The role the guitars play here is MASSIVE, I am absolutely digging the doomier, heavier riffs that were not really present in their previous effort. The harmonization has gone up a few levels too, songs like "There Is Nowhere" or "All Abandon" are a perfect example of this, guaranteed eargasm. I also mentioned my slight discontent with the guitar tone in the previous review, this has been fixed.

The bass sound is still very present, makes up for the whole atmosphere, nothing spectacular but perfect for the album. The drums here are one of my favorite aspects of the album too, they sound way fuller and energetic. Nothing fancy or extremely technical, just great heavy metal drumming that suits the purpose and gives it an extra something, and of course the sound is as natural as it gets, no triggery or computer generated sounding bullshit here, IT'S ALL NATURAL BABY.

The overall production of this album is great, you can hear and appreciate every single detail the band is trying to show. Nothing more to say.

There you go, grab this thing quick cause I know Christian Mistress are going bigger, in a good way.

5/5 - THE perfect soundtrack for long road trips.

Christian Mistress, as the traditional side of Relapse's catalogue, comes to assert itself as the epitome of heavy metal, without neglecting the genre's roots in the process. Another very important thing about them is the fact that they don't forget that we're on the 21st century.

Ok... Where to start? My first touch with Christian Mistress was with this new album, "Possession", and I admit that at first I listened to it in a rush, but if you want to do a nice job you have to sit your ass down and pay attention to what you are doing. So, that's what I did and trust me, I've no regrets about that because after listening once I haven't listened to anything else unless Christian Mistress. I've some more reviews to write - it means I've more new albums to listen to -, but in the past couple of days this is what I've listened.

Be prepared for Christine Davis, the Lady Heavy Metal as I call her, and her four knights!

"Over & Over" and "Pentagram and Crucifix" are only the wam up for an astonishing Heavy Metal album. Simply heavy metal: vivid, revigorant and somehow revivalist. I don't want to act like a regionalist, but some people may drop their chin when knowing that a band with a sound like this isn't british, but north-american.

Even after the revigorant first two tracks, I feel that "Possesion" really starts with the third one, "Conviction". With a parcial fast-tempo, this song is truly an Iron Maiden revivalism from their early times, because of the little passage that reminded me of the Maiden's song "Strange World" and because of the twin-guitars which will be heard during the album.

Ahead, and after "The Way Beyond", we have the title-track "Possession" that starts slow and very Black Sabbath oriented. This song is hugely catchy and that's where I started to ear some hoarse nuances on Christine's voice, but I will say something more about it further on.

The "Black To Gold" track is good for headbanging and also great for Oscar Sparbel and Ryan McClain to exercise their fingers on fast shredding, but then some calmness emerges with "There Is Nowhere" which starts as a ballad and with no response it explods to another Iron Maiden imaginary with the twin-guitars and fast riffs.

"Haunted Hunted" is my favourite track and the best performance of Christine Davis in all the album. The hoarse nuances on her voice are more evident here and I think it sounds so sexy. A voice like that coming from a female is something you don't hear every day in Heavy Metal. Finally, this song has everything a traditional heavy metal tune has to have: quick pace, memorable passages, solos and twin-guitars.

The last song, "All Abandon", begins in an accoustic way and if you think it's working as a farewell don't get too cozy, because the Christian Mistress energy will hunt you till the end of this "Possession".

I just want to say as a final note that Christian Mistress are coming to stay and even if the year is just in its beginning, I risk to say "Possession" will be one of the most addictive records of 2012 and I'm a black metal guy... Enough said!

Originally written for and posted at Riff Magazine