Blitzkid
Trace of a Stranger (Reissue)
6.5
In case you missed it the first time, here’s the reissue of Blitzkid’s 2003 Trace Of A Stranger album with one bonus song and different artwork (sharp eyed Neurosis fans may note that if you drop a little fire behind the statue you’ll have the “Enemy Of The Sun” cover). Blitzkid play early Misfits inspired horror punk but don’t quite have the knack at writing timeless classics like their inspiration.
Like The Misfits, the music is pretty lean punk rock with almost no accents. I think there’s one solo on the entire record which is about the same amount you'll find on Legacy Of Brutality. This is of course keeping with the tradition of the genre but makes the singer the sole distinguishing factor and he’s just not in the same league with Danzig or even label mate Michale Graves. Unlike The Misfits, Blitzkid has several slower ballad type songs on here that all seem to ape that Green Day punk shuffle they made famous on the song “Longview”. These songs are obviously meant to let the singer croon more than he can on the faster cuts but they just take away from the album’s more energetic songs.
Ironically, they sound their best when the singer drops his evil Elvis style Danzig impersonation and goes with his more natural higher pitched vocals. The three best songs on the album “She Dominates”, “Making A Monster” and “Love Like Blood” all share strong choruses that are sung in a key Danzig never does but follow The Misfits style of simple/fun/fast three chord punk songwriting fairly closely. If they had an album full of songs like those this would be a pretty good horror punk album, up there with Michale Graves' latest.
I’m sure this band is pretty fun to see live with all the makeup and relatively speedy songs but unless you absolutely must have each and every Misfits wannabe band’s CD in your collection then I would give this a pass.
Related
BlitzkidLet Flowers Die
5/30/2006