The 1986 Listening Post - Christian Death - Atrocities

Christian Death - Atrocities

#455/2105

October 31 1986

Christian Death

Atrocities

Genre: Death Rock

2.25 out of 5

And here it is, the new version of Christian Death, in its full form. Rozz Williams is gone, Valor Kand has taken full control, which explains the prevalence of percussion above almost everything else. 

Ostensibly this record is about The Holocaust and, specifically Joseph Mengele at times and that’s the second record I’ve heard this month with songs about the torturer-as-doctor, after Slayer’s “Angel of Death”. I kind of get it. We were all pretty affected by the Holocaust in the mid-80s. At least those of us who were old enough to remember the amazing ABC mini-series that was as harrowing and terrifying as anything I’d seen before. Here we are 8 years later and reaping from that. 

It lives on to this day, actually. I’m still boring my way through Hitler: Ascent, Jojo Rabbit won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, Look Who’s Back…

Anyway…this is a boring record despite the ugliness of the content. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/atrocities/776298126

The 1985 Listening Post - Christian Death - Ashes

Christian Death - Ashes

#268/902

July 18 1985

Christian Death

Ashes

Genre: Goth

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

When I Was Bed

Face

More musically adept and more interesting than the previous offering. These guys were definitely on to something…music to drive you to kill yourself apparently since the lead singer did just that 10 years later. It’s hypnotic and tribal and cathartic, which is what I imagine Rozz was going for. I don’t know that I would return to it but I can see people going to see him in concerts, falling in love with him and not being surprised that he wound up hanging himself.

The Weill-ian “Lament” was an unexpected surprise. And “Of the Wound” is highly terrifying at times. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/ashes/1212950967

The 1984 Listening Post - Christian Death - Catastrophe Ballet

Christian Death - Catastrophe Ballet

#74

April 2 1984

Christian Death

Catastrophe Ballet

3.75 out of 5

Highlight:

Androgynous Noise Hand Permeates

Electra Descending

Cervix Couch

This Glass House

The sound of death influenced by The Doors’ darkest impulses. It is impetuous and ambitious while at the same time raw and amateurish. It’s also a deep dive into the mind of a somewhat disturbed person from Pomona, California and, unlike so many others who found solace or catharsis in music, Lead Singer and band founder, Rozz Williams killed himself 14 years later. There’s plenty more of his music in the world, this is but one example. It’s fine but it won’t make you feel good about yourself, the world or anything, really. This is most an excuse for Rozz’s “poetry” and reflections. But, occasionally the band as a whole gives value to the proceedings and they really seem to come in to their own as the album concludes. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/2rTsb2jZYMhjTPYXaVRrCJ?si=EM45cmUWSpKFrVIcyLCdSQ