ALBUM REVIEW Death Of The Party – South Of Salem
Pleasantly dark and taking inspiration from heavy metal bands and 80s sleaze with a hint of goth rock and beauty in the brutality of the world, SOUTH OF SALEM return with their sophomore album Death Of The Party. Already underground sensations, the band have defined their sound and their new album builds on that and elevates them to new levels. An all-out rock explosion filled with ear-worm riffs and edgy hooks, this album is a delight to anyone who sees beauty in the dark and horrific.
Kicking off with Vultures, SOUTH OF SALEM waste no time launching into chugging guitar parts and heavy percussion. The vocals soar into the chorus hammering home the all-out feel of the album: it’s big and theatrical. Static just further enforces this with its even more distorted disorientated feel. This track really takes inspiration from 80s American rock ’n’ roll to a point where it’s hard to remember these guys are from British holiday destination Bournemouth. However, they don’t bring happy holiday vibes with this album. This track ends with a singalong headbanging part that’s just irresistible.
Jet Black Eyes is one of the more ear-wormy tracks as this chorus is just so much fun and difficult not to get along with. It’s powerful and the lyrics are about as dark as the eyes mentioned in the title. It’s about vulnerability to an extent and it’s very meaningful as well as just sounding awesome. Speaking of awesome, the guitar solos here are just showing off as they feel very glam rocky which works well on this track.
Left For Dead comes in strong with heavy percussion and guitar parts. It sounds like they’re on the cusp of either rock or metal in terms of genre. It’s like they’re in some sort of in-between space and hit the sweet spot. This one is staggered which helps it build up into an explosive chorus. The vocals seem a little more gritty but unrestrained. Leading into Hellbound Heart it feels a little more produced and it’s a slight change of pace as it is a bit slower and not quite as heavy. The vocals are clear and more honest whilst the instrumentation throughout the verses is much lighter until the chorus comes in and the whole song sort of comes together. It’s a little different from everything so far which is cool as the variation is a welcome change.
Title track Death Of The Party is a bad-ass rock song. It’s heavy and carefree and it almost feels as if it’s rallying the troops as in the fanbase. It’s got some great lyrics and super catchy parts. This one feels like one for the fans and audience participation is strongly recommended. The closing track Villain feels a little more punk with a little bit of emo thrown in with its more melancholic feel. It utilizes some great effects on the guitar parts – a fuzz box is certainly present. The chorus is more theatrical which nobody can complain about. The lyrics are more self-reflective and darker than most others on the album and it’s a great save-the-best-for-last kind of move. The more metalhead-pleasing part comes in at the end of the track with the percussion and overdriven guitars and it’s such a great way to end Death Of The Party.
SOUTH OF SALEM sound like the kind of band that have matured a little with this album. Some could say their songs are too similar to one another, but that’s not true. They’ve defined their sound and they’ve built on that with their second album rather than making it a carbon copy of their first. It’s clear that these guys know exactly what they’re trying to accomplish with their music whether it’s in the studio or live as these songs will translate to the stage perfectly.
Rating: 8/10
Death Of The Party is set for release on January 19th via Spider Party Records.
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