{"id":22000,"date":"2023-05-08T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=22000"},"modified":"2023-05-03T15:54:06","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T15:54:06","slug":"grave-pleasures-plagueboys-secret-trees-century-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=22000","title":{"rendered":"Grave Pleasures \u2013 \u2018Plagueboys\u2019 <\/a>(Secret Trees\/Century Media)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Studio album number three from Finnish gothic post punkers Grave Pleasures is one I must admit to almost passing up on due to the recent trend for bands to warm up their fans with selected video singles from their soon to be released album. It\u2019s not just \u2018Plagueboys\u2019 though, I almost passed up on the new Damned album too (coincidently both were released on the same day) due to this practise, but thankfully I saw sense and bought both and by God am I glad I did as both have turned out to be great albums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That right there is the core issue though I think, because like The Damned, Grave Pleasure release albums, complete works of art that need to be listened to in their totality , not via cherrypicked tracks, albeit I will admit to now loving the trio of tracks I was previously pointing at my PC screen and ranting at  (for not being as immediate as tracks from the band\u2019s previous LPs 2015\u2019s \u2018Dreamcrash and 2017\u2019s \u2018Motherblood\u2019) when I listened to them in isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consisting of 10 tracks and with a runtime of just 42 minutes \u2018Plagueboys\u2019 is certainly \u201ca straight to the point\u201d kind of record, it\u2019s the type of album that was commonplace in the \u201870s and \u201880s, and opening track \u2018Disintegration Girl\u2019 sounds just like it was birthed in that golden age of music too. A squeal of feedback segueing into tubthumping Budgie-esque (the drummer not band) drums over which a chiming slink-y (geddit?) riff unfurls in all its glorious gothic beauty and then it\u2019s all topped off by the ever-fabulous vocals of frontman Mathew McNerney. This is a stunning opening cut, and I\u2019m immediately thinking \u201cwhat the hell was I doing ever doubting one of my favourite bands of the past decade?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yup it\u2019s the tenth anniversary of Beastmilk\u2019s epic \u2018Climax\u2019 record this year, and it\u2019s that record from the band that would eventually become Grave Pleasures that \u2018Plagueboys\u2019 perhaps most reminds me of, especially \u2018Heart Like a Slaughterhouse\u2019. It\u2019s a track the band themselves admit to sounding right and wrong all at once, and its one that will take a few listens for you to get your head around, but once it\u2019s got its hooks in you, trust me, it\u2019s like \u201cboomshanka\u201d and the gothic payload will fry your brain.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n