ALBUM REVIEW: Shapes Of Midnight – Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats
UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS are one of the more unlikely success stories of the UK heavy music scene. Since emerging from a misty, lamplit Cambridge in 2009, the quintet have steadily grown in stature and become a major force in the world of psychedelic doom. Coming across like a bleary-eyed fusion of BLACK SABBATH and THE BEE GEES, their tripped-out horror tales have led to a sizeable fanbase and critical acclaim. They’re exactly the kind of band who’d give evangelicals heart palpitations, and the only night fever they’re interested in is a mysterious plague that’s wiping out the peasant population.
And despite their name, they’ve been remarkably prolific. Shapes Of Midnight is their seventh full-length album and continues their trend of writing catchy but unsettling pop-metal. It’s deliberately low-fi and while purists might baulk at this comparison, they kinda sounds like if GHOST were more interested in outright evil than crowd-pleasing showmanship.
While it’s not a concept album in the classic sense, Shapes Of Midnight has a distinctive atmosphere running through it. It was partially inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s The Masque Of Red Death, and if they’d been born a few decades earlier, could have been the soundtrack to the Roger Corman film adaptation. Close your eyes and you can easily imagine them performing songs like Don’t Let It Control You at the grand ball while the masked figure moves among the guests.
Notably, it’s also more guitar-driven than the previous record. Nell’ Ora Blu leaned heavily on synths, but the axe work of Kevin R. Starr and George Hudson is front and centre here. Consequently, tracks such as Psycho On The Loose and When Evil Wakes have a proto-metal vibe, while I Won’t Sleep (‘til You’re Gone) feels like an unearthly mix of seventies prog and dark pop. There’s even a saxophone in the background, because even murderous hippie cults need to kick out the jams sometimes.
The Other Side Of The Sky meanwhile has a forceful energy and is part big rocker, part mind-bending journey to a hidden part of the galaxy. It’s catchy too. UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS might be experts at creating an oppressive, flared-trousered atmosphere, but they’re also talented song writers and aren’t afraid of embracing a hook. They finish strongly as well, the laidback riffs and Hammond organ of Sleep No More would see Tony Iommi nodding along in approval.
It’s an engaging, if rather creepy album, and it also flies by. Shapes Of Midnight isn’t short, but it feels like it is and that’s always a good sign. We understand it was also recorded entirely on instruments and recording equipment that was older than the band themselves, so no wonder it has such a distinctive flavour. UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS are not a group we’d have predicted to become stars, but we’re very pleased to see them continuing up the ranks. If you believe that GREEN LUNG sound too modern and want more vintage authenticity, be sure to check this out.
Rating: 8/10
Shapes Of Midnight is set for release on September 18th via Killer Candy Records.
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