Lash to Bone: Deathrock

Saturday, May 25, 2019

The Kentucky Vampires

As the sun descends into the horizon and the moon rises, so to, do the Kentucky Vampires emerge from their coffins to serenade those of us who delight in the macabre. They sing of Ancient Times, Sinister Love, Vampires, Witches and acts of Sorcery, as well as things that go bump in the night.

The Kentucky Vampires are a Deathrock band out of Louisville Kentucky. According to their Facebook page the band has gone through a recent line-up change, with their bassist taking over on vocals, however with the songs he is credited as doing vocals for they haven't missed a beat as he sounds great. They also say they are working on their next album , hopefully they stick to the same formula as their current one is brilliant. They have a great mixture of horror samples, tribal drums, wailing guitars and haunting vocals. The atmosphere this band creates will tug at the dark heart strings of any fan of old Monster Movies as well as those who take a bit deeper interest in the rites, rituals and candle lit corridors associated with horror films. In the background of various songs are various spooky noises that sound as if they are coming from a theremin.

My personal favorite track on this album is "Hex". In this one song the band has wrapped up all of my favorite elements from dark music. The sample at the beginning, the vocals and the lyrics themselves are all top notch. The guitar in this song gets in my head and has me humming this song throughout the day. That being said I truly love every track on this release with notable stand outs for me being "Daughter of the Morning Star" as well as "the Spider and the Fly"

After a brief conversation with the band they do still have a few limited edition, numbered DIY style CDs (Only 200 made)of this release available but they are not listed on Bandcamp so I would recommend if you are serious about purchasing one, or a shirt to contact them through their FB. The band did also say that they are working on a new release and that we may see something new soon, so keep an eye on their Bandcamp page. I will put links to their Facebook, Bandcamp and Youtube page below. please show this band some love and purchase what you can even if it's just the download.

Friday, May 10, 2019

Angels of Liberty

Angels of Liberty blend reverbed out echoey guitars with super dance-able drum machine beats and rhythms. Always lurking in the background, but never overpowering the guitars and drums are catchy synth melodies. Rising above the dark symphony of sound, Voe sings about a wide range of different subjects including Mythology, Conspiracy Theories, and the contrast between Shadows and Light to name a few. I would highly recommend this music to anyone, whether you are a dusty old Eldergoth or someone new to the genre all together.

I think it's only fitting that a blog dedicated to Gothic Rock (and other dark music) start with Angels of Liberty. Like many people in the Gothic community Voe Saint-Clare and his wife Scarlet Powers were really good friends to me as well as my wife. We had the good fortune of getting to know them in the very beginning. I stumbled across the video of "Monster in me" on Youtube and it only had 3 views. This song- completely blew me away, I played it over and over again as I searched the internet for information about the band but found nothing. It was then I messaged Voe for the first time. We went on to have a long conversation and when I asked where I could get more of his music he explained that this video was it.

We continued to talk and I plastered his video anywhere I could, Gothic forums, Facebook groups, everywhere. More and more folks were realizing how awesome this music was and it was really getting around. Finally Voe and Scarlet started recording more of their awesome music and eventually put out their first release. By this point we had been exchanging emails every other day and I truly considered them to be good friends. I realized how good of friends we were when they put a special thanks to my wife and I on their first limited edition releases. Not only that but they were hand numbered and they gave us the number 1 copy. The picture above is just some of the original things Voe and his wife sent us. Voe was a huge collector of all things Gothic and it showed in the things he put out there for his friends and fans.

What really amazes me is that as much time as they took with me, I have come to realize that they did the same with many many other fans over the years. I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about Voe's passing as I'm sure by now everyone is well aware but more so I want people to know the huge impact that he and his music made, not only on countless people lucky enough to have called him a friend, but also the Gothic Community as a whole.

Recently, Scarlet Powers, along with some friends of the band have gathered to re-open Angels of Liberty's label Secret Sin Records. They have talked about releasing the material they were working on before Voe's passing. Here are some links for all things Angels of Liberty: