You have to hand it to Southern Lord for continuing to give people a reason to buy vinyl. Toward the end of last year, Southern Lord released a limited edition 180 gram vinyl version of The Accüsed's The Curse of Martha Splatterhead. The vinyl is limited to 1,500 copies - 500 copies on 'blood and gore splattered' vinyl and 1,000 copies on red vinyl. The vinyl version also contains two bonus tracks: a cover of the UK Subs classic "Living Dead" and a reworking of the old Accüsed favorite “Wrong Side of the Grave" (from Return of Martha Splatterhead).

Curse of Martha Splatterhead is the band's first new release since 2003's Oh, Martha! and features a new lineup under the leadership of founding member/guitarist Tommy Niemeyer. On this new disc, The Accüsed stay true to the sound of their past discs and blast through fourteen cuts of aggressive crossover thrash in under 30 minutes.

Niemeyer's buzzsaw guitar propels most of the songs and new vocalist Brad Mowen does an admirable job of filling behind Blaine Cook. Mowen comes at these songs with range of vocals styles that run the gamut from hardcore shout-alongs to grind-metal growls to brutal thrash metal shrieks. The new rhythm section of Dorando Hodous on bass and Mike Peterson on drums pound away like a jackhammer but they are able to follow Niemeyer through a number of twist, turns and breakdowns (sometimes within the same song). Lyrically, the band continues to follow the splatter-punk/horror movie themes of their previous releases and the song lyrics aren't for the faint of heart. Check out the sewing machine sound effects on the Ed Gein inspired track "Hemline". There is even some B-movie horror film sound bites between some of the tracks which add to the overall horror-punk ambiance of the disc.

This is a solid release from a band that has stayed true to form over the years. All we need now is an East Coast tour.



Links:
The Accüsed