No. 16 - Blood Lust/Eponymous LP, The Kentucky Vampires (2017/2018)

(Over a series of twenty short posts – one per week for the remaining weeks of this decade – I am aiming to highlight in vaguely chronological order some of the most important and influential releases in the goth/post-punk/darkwave genre of the 2010’s).

Goth. The G-word that dares not speak its name. Famously, he main high priests of the movement Andrew Eldritch, Robert Smith, Jaz Coleman and a myriad of others have always strenuously denied having anything to do with the much-maligned musical movement.

But recently, in the latter years of the current decade, all that has changed, with a plethora of artists mainly from the USA embracing the term “goth” and its associated sounds and imagery. These groups grew up venerating Nosferatu, The Wake and Type O Negative as much as Joy Division or the Banshees, and draw inspiration from both the genre’s ultra-creative birth and its more mature self-confident refinement to move the movement on a stage further in this third generation. One such band is The Kentucky Vampires, whose very name leaves no doubt as to their musical style, even discounting the bats and coffins which accompany their band logo on their album sleeves and tour t-shirts.

Any fears that the band may be just another clunky, faintly embarrassing pastiche of goth’s darkest delights are swiftly allayed with even a cursory listen to their music, which is a unique take on the genre. Built firmly around the rough-edged deathrock guitar of Zac Campbell and its interplay with the somewhat detached melodic vocal of Abbas Marler, the Vampires’ carefully-constructed songs revolve around suitably dark lyrical material whilst avoiding overly-cliched references or obvious subject matter.

Steeped therefore in the gothic musical traditions of the first and second waves, Campbell (who both composes the backing and plays all instruments) constructs songs with the simple complexity of a spider’s web, each goassamer thread shimmering and interconnecting to form an overall structure that is as strong as it is hauntingly beautiful. Central to each song is a driving bass-led rhythm section topped by a spooky buzzing guitar riff that evokes a misty graveyard at midnight, over which floats Marler’s confident, melancholic vocal line which owes as much to Morrisey and Stipe as it does to Steele and Eldritch.

Their instantly recognisable gloomy cinematic sound was first heard on the 2016 single Bitten, but the release which really began to spread their fame by word-of-mouth online was 2017’s mini-album Blood Lust which featured half a dozen songs which also formed the basis of the following year’s self-titled debut LP.

Lead track Spider and The Fly has not only a catchy melody but also a fascinating lyric which recounts bloodthirsty tale of 16^th century Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory, famed for allegedly being responsible for the torture and death of hundreds of young women.

Tracks like Hex and Welcome To The Lot also featured the band’s signature sound, with Campbell’s heavily reverberated fuzzy riffs the perfect foil for Marler’s plaintive, almost folky vocal inflections, an irresistible package dripping with the creepy atmosphere of Hammer Horror films that shone through the slightly loose studio production.

Daughter of The Morning Star, the new feature song on the 2017 expanded version, also features a lyric about alleged female involvement in the occult in mediaeval Europe along another strong melody, this time about witchcraft in Italy, meaning that the songs go way beyond the usual “flickering flame in the mirror” goth tropes (not that there’s anything wrong with that, occasionally).

Unsurprisingly, on the back of the tremendous critical success of the debut LP, The Kentucky Vampires have recently signed with Secret Sin Records, home of Angels of Liberty amongst others, whose first act was to bring out a lime green vinyl edition of the album which is selling well.

A follow-up album is promised within the next couple of months, but in the meantime the band have just dropped a new EP Blood and Tears on Bandcamp, the first to feature new bassist Motuvius Rex, but with the equally important recruitment of Sonsombre’s Brandon Pybus on mixing duties, giving the new songs both extra sheen and extra power whilst retaining the band’s distinctive sound. Whilst lead track Holy Heretic continues the good work of the debut album both lyrically and musically, the most interesting track for me is Our Love Has No Goodbyes, a smouldering slow burner of a full-on unashamedly gothic rock classic, and the shift away from a relatively repetitive song structure and one-dimensional guitar tone of old-school deathrock sits very well with their revamped sound . Third track A Different Shade also has a softer focus despite a grungier feel, as the band show their ability to broaden their musical palette whilst retaining their original appeal, and whet the appetite for the forthcoming sophomore album.

The Kentucky Vampires’ highly-recommended output can be sampled and ordered via their Bandcamp site.