The Crimson Ghosts are to contemporary punk what
the Cramps were to punk in the '70s and
the Circle Jerks to punk in the '80s: a band very much of the moment who at the same time are slyly sending up its conventions with a sniggering sense of humor. It's hard to tell which is scarier: songs called "Night of the Dead Prom Queen" and "Patchwork Fuckface" or the reaction of humorless prigs who think this cartoonish German band takes any of this stuff seriously. Musically,
Carpe Mortem is fairly standard-issue Euro-punk with some metal tendencies: the drummer, Reverend, plays about twice as fast as the rest of the band, and while singer Vlad smartly avoids the clichéd death-grunt vocals, he's got a hoarse bark of a voice that speaks of a career spent howling too loudly into too many microphones. The surprise for many might be just how goshdarn tuneful
Carpe Mortem is: songs like "Somewhere in a Casket" and "House," for all the cornball shock horror lyrics, are actually catchy tunes with memorable choruses and solid riffs.
Misfits and vampire-era
Damned fans: meet your new favorite band. ~ Stewart Mason