You know someone is old-school when they refer to me as Darren "Deicide"
Kramer. Such is the case with Kent Manthie, the proprietor of Reviewer
Magazine out in San Diego, California. Recently he had a chance to review
"The
Jersey Devil is Here". Silence for the testimonial please:
http://reviewermag.com/kent/?p=89
Darren “Deicide” Kramer
The Jersey Devil is Here
Ever Reviled Records
http://www.everreviledrecords.com
Reviewed by Kent Manthie
Deicide’s back and this time ‘round he’s got that raw, bluesy feel to it
that’s more like his debut CD than the sophomore disc he put out a couple
years ago; it had more complexity and stuff that just was to “layered” in
the end and took away from what made it the unique Deicide album – raw,
raucous, just him and a Stratocaster or Dobro crooning in a boozy, shrill way,
with much feeling.
This new disc, The Jersey Devil is Here, sees Darren take away much of the
frills added in previously and this time focused on the intensity of the tunes
– which is high in most cases – he’s got a story to tell or something to
get off his chest, a political statement, a critique of society or just a song
with cryptic, personal references to people in his life, et cetera.
The album starts out grandly with “Won’t You?” and chugs along from there
into “Napalm, Death and Fire” then, on the title track, he takes seven
minutes to drown in personal demons, introspective oddities, with an eerie,
guitar-driven ghostly sound that accompanies it all. Then “The Cocaine
Song” is a ‘fuck it’ song, wherein when things seem to be at a nadir,
screw it all and get loaded, an eight ball of coke and a bottle of Wild
Turkey.
In some ways, Deicide comes across as a sort of cross between Iggy Pop and Lou
Reed, with a little Alice Cooper thrown in for theatrics and histrionics.
It’s good to see that Deicide has made it through the hardest part and
survived whatever slings and arrows came his way after his first two CDs as
well as the deserved praise he received that, no doubt, kept him confident
combined with a cult following, a devoted fan base that probably means more to
him than selling records, except when it comes to these guys.
A couple other standouts include “Hudson River Hangover”, wherein Cooper
croons a melancholy, late-night-early morning kind of mood music and “This
Lonesome Road”, a sad, bluesy wailing lament of a song, no doubt from a
depressing memory stuck in his head.
The CD, as a whole, though, really is a worthwhile and captivating event that
devoted fans as well as those looking for something new and unique to feast on
will eat up like mad. - Kent Manthie
How does it feel to be my "cult following"? I do hereby officially ordain the
cult of rhythm n blues. Roll over Beethoven.