Vampires Everywhere – “Ritual” [Album Review]

I’m gonna make pretend that I’m not super-late giving this album a spin because, while it may not be new, it’s new to me. Vampires Everywhere is a band that I feel as though I’ve known about for a few years, but I never really dug in to take a listen. I blame it on the rain… ‘cause you gotta blame it on something. You just witnessed a Milli Vanilli reference that wasn’t about lip syncing. You’re welcome.

I guess you could say that Ritual is an industrial rock album, but that might be misleading. The writing seems more rock-oriented during choruses while the verses are heavily infused with electronic percussion and drony synths – kinda reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails’ more popular tracks. “Perfect Lie” is a great example of this kind of synergy between electronic elements, the kind that are somewhat eerie and make you think of an abandoned toy doll factory with assembly lines and chains moving slowly, operated by the ghosts of little children who weren’t able to keep their heads above the water in a Victorian garden’s water fountain and guitar writing that powers the chorus forward like the liquid metal T-1000 chasing John Connor with an 18-wheeler.

Then there are tracks like “Take Me To Church,” a Hozier cover featuring Alex Koehler from Chelsea Grin both anthemic on the one hand but not on the other. And, with Michael Vampire’s gritty, sometimes yelling, vocal timbre, it’s haunting, beautiful, yet sometimes creepy.

Lastly, there are some pretty rad lyrics on this album, one of my faves being “she’s the only disease that I can kill with poison,” at least I THINK it’s “can.” I think that makes more sense than “can’t,” but I’m not a doctor.

Ritual Track Listing:

01. Intro
02. Black Betty
03. Perfect Lie
04. Interlude
05. Ghost Inside My Head
06. Take Me to Church (feat. Alex Koehler)
07. Demon Inside Me
08. Violent World
09. 9 Lives
10. American Nightmare
11. Truth in You

Run Time: 32:07
Release Date: March 18, 2016

Check out the track “Perfect Lie” here.