a chaotic, leather-clad, bloodsucking frenzy of an album[…]
you can never really tell what’s coming next
Creeper couldn’t release ‘just another album’ now, could they?
Creeper. A Southampton born quintet with a flair for the gothic and the dramatic. They’ve been around for quite some time now, surviving their own ‘break-up’ (a stunt to allow them to disappear for album two), and the ‘decapitation’ of their frontman (again, a stunt… I hope), and with every album cycle, the band have transformed themselves into something new.
However, whether they be the paranormal investors of their horror-punk debut era, or the doomed fugitives of heaven of their sophomore effort, Creeper have never let their dramatics and yearn to put on a show stand in the way of making damn good music. In fact, back in 2020, I labelled their ‘Sex, Death, and the Infinite Void’ as my favourite album. However, now on their third effort, Creeper have pushed themselves further than ever before, with ideas wilder than anything they’ve approached previously.
‘Sanguivore’ is a chaotic, leather-clad, bloodsucking frenzy of an album. From the bombastic nine minutes of their Meat Loaf love letter opener, to the tender chimes of the closer ‘More Than Death’, you can never really tell what’s coming next. Salem style horror-punk is coupled up with gothic new wave anthems for the damned, whilst glittering glam rock jostles for position with whimsical acoustic led ballads of murderous love.
It, at times, feels more than a little disorienting; underlying themes of vampires, doomed romance, and just being really fucking horny tie the tracks together in various ways, but sonically, do be prepared for whiplash as the band jump from one incendiary idea to the next. It is far less conceptually together than their previous ideas.
However, out of that chaos comes some of the band’s best material to date. ‘Lovers Led Astray’, with that ungodly synth bass line in the verses, is pure 80’s b-movie drama, with vocalist Will Gould truly capturing a feeling of the (vampire) hunter being hunted; it’s an absolutely electric track that even packs a ferocious breakdown in the back end.
‘Black Heaven’ sees the band go all New Order, with a haunting electronic backing that builds to a climax that practically oozes bloodlust, whilst ‘Teenage Sacrifice’ is a fantastically theatrical affair, with Ian Miles’ trademark searing guitar work, and a punchy melodic bass line that really rounds out the track with some true depth and power.
In between, the band juggle an amalgamation of various ideas that are varying degrees of ‘decent’, with some tracks sadly just not quite hitting as powerfully as they should. ‘Sacred Blasphemy’ and ‘Chapel Gates’, in their simpler punk natures, get totally lost in the gothic maelstrom of the album, whilst lead single ‘Cry To Heaven’ goes on for far too long for a track that’s so repetitive.
And well, then there’s that opening track, that big ol’ nine minute behemoth. ‘Further Than Forever’ blows open the track like kicking down the doors on Nosferatu’s castle hideaway, with huge instrumentation that rises up in a black wave around the listener, whilst Gould delivers one of his most theatrical performances to date. And for its ambition, it deserves all the credit.
However… this is just a Meat Loaf track. It’s a deliberate choice on the band’s behalf, with the album openly dedicated to songwriter Jim Steinman, who wrote for two of the ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ albums. But ultimately, it ends up feeling like a lot of grandstanding and not too much else; it’s big, it’s well performed, and it’s well written… but it lacks anything distinctly Creeper about it, no twist that makes it truly theirs.
Regardless of how critical I may seem, however, it would be wrong of me to call ‘Sanguivore’ a bad album because it really isn’t. Certainly, it’s inconsistent with some very rough pacing issues, but in terms of scope, ambition, and pure fun, Creeper offer one of the best albums of the year. It’s not perfect, but it is a wild, wild ride with plenty of highs.
Put down the garlic and crosses, and let it take a bite.
RATING: 77/100 – Mostly Very Good
For Fans Of: Meat Loaf, Kiss, Queen, Ghost, The Nightmares
Physical copies of the album are available here.
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