tends to be dismissed as a sub-par Saint Vitus album. It has in turn been buried by time and dust, only recently resurfacing as a re-issue from Season Of Mist.ĭue to the aforementioned points, C.O.D. also featured a cleaner production and more upbeat songwriting than its gloomy predecessors. While by no means a lacking vocalist, Linderson’s voice was more in line with the epic doom-sound spearheaded by Candlemass, rather than the usual snarls and wails of Wino and original Vitus frontman Scott Reagers. Being their first album since 1986 not to feature Scott “Wino” Weinrich’s unique set of pipes, the band brought in Christian Linderson from Swedish stalwarts Count Raven to fill in on vocal duties. (or Children Of Doom) stands out as a bit of an oddity. Out of doom metal legends Saint Vitus’ dependably bleak discography, C.O.D. It's definitely worth a listen, though, and might be a Count Raven and/or Candlemass fan's favourite Saint Vitus album, if there ever was one. It's not a bad album by any means, but it's just overall weaker in every aspect than the other albums and also much longer and less memorable. is the weakest Saint Vitus album to date. The songs just aren't as memorable as the first few ones, so trimming some of them off wouldn't have hurt.Ĭ.O.D. That, combined with the new style may alienate some Vitus veterans, and I must admit that once the first (excellent) half of the album has been passed, the remainder may become a bit tedious.
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But if you're a seasoned Vitus fan, you'd know that most albums by the doom titans are between 30-35 minutes in length, while C.O.D. The title-track, "Shadow of a Skeleton", "(I Am) the Screaming Banshee" and "Imagination Man" are all very good, noteworthy songs. A mixture of slow, heavy and almost epic doom tracks and faster, shorter rockers fill the first half of the album. The album's first few songs are excellent. The makers, Black Sabbath, experimented loads and usually succeeded in doing so, so why shouldn't Saint Vitus do the same? With a new era came a new style, and even if it made some fans turn their backs to the band, it remains a very decent doom offering in a time where metal was dying (and doom metal was unheard of pretty much). Experimenting isn't anything new in doom metal. But it's a bit different from the Saint Vitus we all know.īut different doesn't necessarily mean bad. Whether Chandler, as the chief song-writer of Vitus, decided to go this direction on his own, or Linderson's Count Raven background had a say in it (perhaps both), we don't know. The riffs are doomy, yes, but are vaguely comparable to the Swedish doomsters (Candlemass, Count Raven.), and even the chaotic, unpredictable solos that Dave Chandler usually conjures are often finer sounding and not so random and wild (bar on "Imagination Man"). On C.O.D., like the production, the music seems a bit more planned and organized. Previously, Saint Vitus had a very unique sound with the dirty production, basic setup and primal attitude. The music is still very doomy, albeit in a slightly different way. Some Vitus fans may argue that this was a major downer, but it doesn't bother me too much, even though I prefer the original feel of Vitus' music.
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however, the production is much cleaner, and to be fair, it was "that time", when bands were generally went for the cleaner, crispier sound. That applies to both the Reagers era and the Wino era. On previous albums, Saint Vitus have gone for the dirty, muddy and fuzzy production to add a certain murky atmosphere. for the first time, the biggest difference (apart from the vocals) is the production. He sounds like a mixture of Ozzy's better days and Zeeb Parkes of Witchfinder General. His voice suits the doom and gloom very well. With Scott Reagers and Wino being his predecessors, Linderson had some big shoes to fill, but he did a very good job. When Wino left Saint Vitus in the early 90s to reform The Obsessed, Saint Vitus recruited Swedish doom vocalist Chritus Linderson to handle the vocal duties on the 'C.O.D.' album.