Tuesday, June 10, 2014

The Cemetery Boys




Welcome to my first music review here at the Coffin. It is a well deserved one too because if you like spooky rock, sludgy bass and general monster rock with a touch of undead groovy then you are in for a treat!

A few years ago, maybe 3 or 4, while attending Monster Fest, the annual horror convention that rises from the grave every October in my back yard of Chesapeake, Virginia. I came across a spooky little band called The Cemetery Boys. As I walked through the parking lot of the convention could hear the band playing and I thought that it was cool there was a band. At the entrance to the library (where the convention is held) I was greeted by a foam headstones, rubber bats and various other Halloween items adorning the microphone stand and drum kit. The members of the band were simply adorned in all black to complete the grunge look that fit well with the dirge that was emanating from the PA speakers. The song was “Country Cemetery” and it has remained a favorite of mine.

Getting the creep on at Monster Fest
The boys have just released a 9 song macabre disc that comes straight from the tombs of Transylvania. “At Midnight” opens up the disc with at a good pace. A nicely written riff that, to my ears at least, has a bit of a Black Sabbath-esque quality to it. The tempo picks up on “Nitemare Queen” with a full blast of bass distortion and a rockabilly style beat. “Styrofoam Gravestone” conjures up memories of Halloweens past, present and future for this monsterkid. “Corpse” is a nice homage to the man made creature of the silver screen plus helps us with our spelling of the song title which is a cool plus. Some nice bass licks in this tune as well. “Crypts, Coffins and Corpses” kicks off with a sound bite from Night of the Living Dead and is my favorite new track from the boys. I totally dig the chorus. “Cemetery Mortuary” is up next and is one of the first songs I ever heard from the band on that fateful day at Monster Fest. It’s got a great intro and heads into a very industrial feel.  “Headstone Hotel” is a great little dirge that takes me down to the foggy little village of Whitewood.  “Headstone Hotel….weekend in hell” love that chorus! “Country Cemetery” picks the tempo back up and reminds why I like this band. Simple but catchy with a riff that makes me want to fire up the hearse and head out to my local haunt. “Transylvania” rounds out the disc with its stomping main riff before heading into a more haunting song structure. I am totally digging this disc!

Live from the crypt!
What gets me about The Cemetery Boys is that fact that they are a duo! When I first spotted them at Monster Fest I thought they were a trio but quickly realized there was no third member. Bassist/singer Edgar Von Graves holds down coffin lid with just four strings and raw distortion and gain. He somehow straddles that line of clean, clanky bass with fuzz and razor sharp guitar you would expect from a six string. I will have to inquire about the drums on this cd because Seth Von Graves is credited for drums but “live”. Im not sure if it was Seth that I saw at the last Monster Fest or not but the drummer can hold his own. I sorely need to invest a night and catch the boys live in their natural habitat of a dank mausoleum gig. 

The cd is a good one! I totally dig the feel of the songs and each track will open up your memory banks to every Halloween you have had since your were knee high to a zombie. You can catch up with The Cemetery Boys through their Facebook page and Reverb Nation site! Don't forget to ask for you copy of their cd!




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