Creeper – Sanguivore
A love letter to the 80s, the only real disappointment on Creeper's new album is their reluctance to fully embody its early operatic promise
Creeper could easily have ended up as just another horror punk band – albeit a very good one – but the Southampton ghouls, discontented with the onset of pop-punk rigor mortis, have reincarnated with every release since their debut: first as polished, gothic rock and rollers, then as peddlers of morbid musical theatre.
Initially, Sanguivore appears to be Creeper’s further metamorphosis into an operatic rock behemoth, opening with Further Than Forever, an epic nine-minutes of Meat Loaf/Alice Cooper worship. The succeeding track, Cry To Heaven, is another showstopper, a fist-pumping concoction of classic and contemporary hard rock that sounds something like Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell possessed by the spirit of Ghost’s Square Hammer.
But in true Creeper style, and slightly disappointingly, the band refuses to commit to the album of bombastic rock and heavy metal that could have been. Tracks like Sacred Blasphemy feel more like classic punk-rock Creeper, while Chapel Gates adds a twist of Misfits morbidity to the pop hooks of Kim Wilde’s Kids In America.
Sanguivore is a love letter to the 80s, whether it’s punk, pop, hard-rock or heavy metal, and it’s bursting with great songs that are sure to please long-term and new fans alike. Perhaps Creeper’s reluctance to fully embody the promise of those opening two tracks is the album’s only real disappointment.
Listen to: Further Than Forever, Cry To Heaven, More Than Death