Artist: Argyle Goolsby
Release House: A Corpse with No Name Productions
Genre: Horror Punk
One Sentence Synopsis: The first two EPs along with all of the singles released on one album
Series: Standalone
Single/EP/Album: Album
Release Date: Sept 11, 2015
Running Time: 33 min
MSRP: $10.00
Discount Link: N/A
Website: Click Here
Music Video: Click Here
Purchase Site: Click Here
Reviewed by: Reverend Leviathan
Final Score: 5.0 Moons (out of 5)
Having toured 29 countries, played over 700 shows and appeared on over 200+ songs and 16 albums over the past 2 decades, Argyle Goolsby (the co founder of the horror punk troubadours Blitzkid) returns to conjure up the curtain on some new music. He has also played bass alongside Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein (former guitarist of Misfits) in the band Gorgeous Frankenstein. Now flying solo, he has placed his previous EPs and singles onto one full-length album.
Theme
The horror theme runs strong throughout the album (as it should in all horror punk releases). It opens with the aggressive “Spiders and Flies,” which is an homage to Renfield from Dracula. The aggression eases up on Baskerville and Argyle’s vocals take a more death rock singing style, that song being about the Hound of Baskerville. There are numerous references to old horror movies and novels, some of which I’ve never seen nor heard of (sadly).
Argyle Goolsby
Presentation
The production value of this CD is great. Though it’s a compilation of previous EPs the quality of each song sounds the same, rather than having a rough master of a few tracks. The bass licks really stand out on a lot of the songs, especially on my favorite track “Shadows of the Night.” It’s a great combination of the bass playing abilities and Argyle’s singing style.
I cannot emphasize the beauty of his voice enough. While he has a very good aggressive singing style in some songs, the best is when he’s using a very dark, romantic tone that is most prevalent on the album; a lot of great harmonization. If you needed just one reason to check out this album, I would definitely say it’s Argyle’s voice.
Gothic Fit
Dracula, werewolves, vintage horror films, vampires, romance; what more do you want? All of these themes put to a dark punk sound is a great combination.
Closing Thoughts
Argyle Goolsby put together a great compilation of his earlier works in Saturnalia of the Accursed. For fans of his previous work in Blitzkid, this album stands alongside horror punk greats such as Misfits, The Undead and Calabrese.
Theme: 5.0 Moons
Presentation: 4.5 Moons
Gothic Fit: 4.0 Moons
Final Score (not an average): 5.0 Moons
