ZOMBEAST
ZOMBEAST "Heart Of Darkness"
By Dr. Abner Mality
I really swung both ways with this one, flopping from good to bad several times until I wound up on the good side, but just barely. What a nice guy I am....at least, that's what my patients tell me. The ones who survive, that is.
How DANZIG is this Arizona band? The answer is that there are none more DANZIG than ZOMBEAST. The aura of the small Gothic muscleman and his other projects SAMHAIN and THE MISFITS hangs heavy over these guys. Lead crooner Mario Montechello has spent every waking minute in worship of the Great God Glenn and has the "Evil Elvis" sound down pat. I found it to be rather too much and it kind of hurts ZOMBEAST. Some slight deviation from the DANZIG vocals might give ZOMBEAST more of its own identity. Instead, the mimicry puts an indelible stamp on them.
That almost had me ready to bin "Heart of Darkness" but I'm an honest fiend. As the album rolled on, I had to admit, a lot of this is as catchy as hell. Some excellent riffs here, especially on "Torso" and "The Cycle". With "Night Demon", ZOMBEAST might need to pay a fee to Jarvis Leatherby due to the name, but the song is the best on the album. Just pure, furious metal. The album's sound is crisp and metallic, if a bit anonymous, and the drumming of Kyle Smith is especially noteworthy.
Even the slower, moodier songs have their moments. The title track and "Cold Embrace" both have very catchy hooks. I didn't care that much for "The Witching Bell", though. In the final analysis, "Heart of Darkness" is a modest success and entertaining in its way. This band needs to develop more of its own identity to really move forward, though.