Lazarus Blackstar – Funeral Voyeur
Posted by douchemike on July 2nd, 2008 filed in Doom Metal
Lazarus Blackstar’s first album “Revelations” was a classic of the sludge genre. Many bands, particularly in the UK, had trod the path well-worn by the likes of Eyehategod, Grief, and Iron Monkey. But none of them, not Raging Speedhorn nor Mistress, have done so in such an original and portentous way as Lazarus Blackstar did with “Revelations”, through adding the crust stylings of Amebix and the chugging plodding sense of groove of vintage Sabbath into the mix to create something that was more of the sum of its parts. Lazarus Blackstar’s sophomore album “Funeral voyeur” starts off as more of the same, with the title track kicking off proceedings with an ominous crawl.
“Funeral Voyeur” is Lazarus Blackstar’s last album with vocalist Paul Catten, who has left to join possibly one of the worst concept bands in extreme metal, The Sonataran Experiment. How Lazarus Blackstar will cope without Catten is uncertain, as his highly unique vocal style is part of the attraction. Imagine an 80 year old great grandmother from the Gorbals area of Glasgow. Now imagine that woman out of her face on vicodin, LSD, and Buckfast, screeching at the top of her voice at random passers-by at 3am. That is Paul Catten’s vocal style first used in bizarre spazcore pioneers Medulla Nocte and further used in sludge metal supergroup Murder One. His vocals convey a sense of hopelessness, agitation, and terror that few other vocalists in sludge metal can, with his performance on “I’m Not Paranoid (I Know That They Hate Me)” being the best evocation of sheer paranoia and mental instability this side of Art Bell’s coast-to-coast.
Other choice cuts include the apocalyptic “Revelation III: Conclusion” and “Loneliness”, which sounds sort-of like Candlemass if they had a Glaswegian pensioner junkie on vocals. All in all, if you liked the first Lazarus Blackstar album then you’ll like the second as there’s no progression. Where they go from here with the loss of such an integral part of their sound in the shape of Paul Catten is anybody’s guess.
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