Out now
Atomic Fire Records
Words by Jimmy Glinster
Widely known as The Helsinky Vampires, well I didn’t know that, but anyway, you might have. Anyway, these guys look like a bunch of old goth rockers and since they’ve been around for 33 years, this is probably an accurate statement, although a completely uneducated one.
Goth ‘n’ Roll, is what they call it and apparently these Finish lads are the pioneers of it on the dark rock metal scene. Yeah, I read the odd press release occasionally which also advises me that this new EP titled Drive is only four tracks long, so this should be a bit of a quicky.
The title track Drive instantly reminds me of a quite popular Billy Idol song, and although I don’t mind a bit of the Billy, I’m not at all excited about where I believe this album is going to take me. The mono-tone vocals are delivered at their gothic best as the drums, bass, and guitar “keep rolling through” the drive. The outro riff is slightly exciting.
Call Me Snake sounds much like Drive. Yeah.
The last studio track California kicks off with a slightly rockier, western feel to it. I guess they are trying to make the riffs relevant to the song title. The opening guitar riffs, and later solo, have a Slash’s Snakepit type vibe to them. Thankfully the vocals are a little less monotone this time around too and some female gang vocals are thrown in which add a nice feminine touch.
The final track Two Horns Up is a live offering which is only available on the physical format, so you won’t be able to listen to it on Spotify. Also, fuck Spotify. Anyway, this is the rockiest track yet, and I’m enjoying this one more than the rest of the EP, albeit those monotone vocals again.
I’m sure this band has a following since that they have been around for so long, and the fact that they’ve even managed to break number 1 in their homeland of Finland. If you’re an old goth rocker, you’ll probably love it. It reminds me of some type of weird cross between Billy Idol and Him, so get your eyeliner on and dim the lights.
