Album Review: Calabrese - "Lust For Sacrilege"

Happy new year, friends. I hope you had a chance to check out the list of my top 10 favorite metal albums from 2014. If not, I recommend you find it and read it. If you already have then you may recall that one of the bands at the top was a group called Calabrese.

If you're not yet familiar with Calabrese, the band is made up of three brothers; Jimmy Calabrese on vocals and bass, Bobby Calabrese on vocals and guitar and drummer Davey Calabrese. There sound, especially vocally, is decidedly influenced by Glen Danzig and the Misfits. But Calabrese is no tribute band. The music they create is catchy, high-energy horror based punk.

Last year's release, "Born With A Scorpion's Touch", was my first taste of Calabrese and, frankly, I didn't care for it... at first. My initial reaction was that they were some sort of Misfits tribute band. But the more I listened to the record the more I realized that, despite the similarities in vocal style between the Calabrese brothers and Mr. Glen Danzig, the former had talent in spades and the songs they had written were memorable, catchy and, most importantly, uniquely their own. It quickly became one of my faves, hence the appearance on my top 10.

Now, in 2015, we're being treated to the sixth release from Phoenix, AZ's horror-punk trio, "Lust For Sacrilege". The album is 11 killer tracks which demonstrate the evolution of this band of brothers.  While staying true to their punk backbone, "Lust For Sacrilege" is Calabrese expanding the boundaries of their previous work.

Jimmy explains, "'Lust For Sacrilege' is not so much a lust to destroy religion or anything like that... On a personal note, it's more about breaking what we thought was sacred or we couldn't do. We're breaking down walls and making darker music, which we haven't done before. The band is going in new directions. It's a special album for us".

It's a special album for me too. It's true.. the punk is still there but there's a moodiness to this record that is greater than what I've heard on their previous work.

"We were listening to darker, heavier bands like Mastodon, Danzig, and Black Sabbath, while driving through the mountains of Washington," remembers Jimmy. "There was something about the landscape and the music that reflected a feeling we wanted to pursue. We're from the desert, so the settings of Seattle, Portland, and Salem really inspired us. We decided to get heavier without losing sight of our other inspirations like Roy Orbison and Black Flag".

Bobby goes on, "On the last couple of records, we tried for more of a lo-fi, in-the-garage punk feel. It was time to get evil and explore our dark side".

I'll tell you what, them Calabrese boys sure can write a song. Each song on "Lust For Sacrilege" is crafted just right. Their fun, toe-tapping, catchy and the production is top notch. What makes their story even more interesting is Calabrese is a "do-it-yourself" group so any success the band sees is based on their own hard work and devotion to their craft.

At the risk of making too many Danzig comparisons, listening to "Lust For Sacrilege", for me, is like hearing the evolution of Samhain into the first Danzig record. There's a maturity to Calabrese's song writing that has kept the elements I enjoyed from their previous offerings while giving me something new to enjoy.

From the moody opening track "The Dark Is Who I Am" to the "Hatebreeders"-esque "Gimme War" to the emotional "Drift Into Dust", Calabrese has crafted a very easy to listen to record. I like it all but one of the standouts for me is the song they've chosen as the first single from the album, "Down In Misery". It's a power-punk masterpiece "...that's about being the bad guy and liking it" and it showcases some really fantastic harmonies.   

So I'll say they've done it again. "Lust For Sacrilege" still reminds me of Danzig (and that's not a bad thing) but it's more complex than other Calabrese work I've heard. For every Misfits similarity, there is a nod to Sabbath, Type O Negative and (whether intentional or not) some fleeting references to VolBeat. It's great fun for me to hear a band push their self-imposed boundaries especially when the result is a record that I've already listened to dozens of times and foresee staying in my heavy rotation for a while. It's only the middle of January but I'm already assembling my 2015 top 10 list.  I can't wait to hear what's next.