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Review: Christian Mistress - Agony & Opium
Christian Mistress
www.christianmistress.com
Agony & Opium

Label: 20 Buck Spin
Year released: 2010
Duration: 27:37
Tracks: 6
Genre: Heavy Metal

Rating:
3.25/5


Review online: January 22, 2011
Reviewed by: Adam Kohrman
Readers' Rating
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Rated 4.06/5 (81.18%) (17 Votes)
Review

Christian Mistress are another doom-ish band that have been making a name for themselves in the American metal underground. Sounding like old school heavy metal, so old that you could even call it "modern proto-metal," the band has now both toured and put out their debut full-length, Agony and Opium. These riffs sound more like they’ve come out of 70s hard rock like Deep Purple and the faster parts of Budgie songs, and like Motorhead when they pick up the pace. The voice of Christine Davis is the album’s star; her low-pitched, gruff croon moans across this album, holding together the melodies in album highlights like "Desert Rose." This is what you’re getting. It isn’t new, and their audience doesn’t want new.

This might not be as riff-based as early proto-metal bands. Christian Mistress instead intend more on the wider feel of a song (I hesitate to use the misleading term "atmosphere" here). They don’t pile riff on top of riff as those bands did, but Christian Mistress still resemble them in sound, just not essence. The band strives for a deeper, more ethereal sound, and only sometimes are able to achieve it. While this record is usually catchy, it can become weak and tepid. This is, for the most part, a simple genre, and simple genres can get boring if a band isn’t careful. That’s the pitfall that Christian Mistress occasionally fall into.

Let’s not forget that this is a debut album from a young band. Christian Mistress know their sound and inspiration. Their future albums are already something to look forward to.

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