Calabrese - The Traveling Vampire Show

Short info: Nice horror theme punk album. Don't expect jaw-dropping lyrics from it and you'll be just fine. However, the music part was handled very well. Riffs / melodies aren't overtly boring. The album is mostly based on regular horror imagery.



Detailed info: If one was to explain the album in a sentence or two, it wouldn't be enough. They just aren't that regular. On the musical point of view, these guys handle it very well. As for the "catchy" capability of the songs, they're easily determined on whether you can handle average verses, because that's what this band is about. The verses are almost always average and nothing spectacular, but the situation changes when the choruses come to play. Choruses are really notable in the songs and will embed in your brain very quickly.

The songs can get a tad boring, but that doesn't last for long (mostly due to the fact that the songs are relatively short). The "boring" effect is mostly derived from the feeling that the entire album is almost exclusively composed in only a two-or-three keys. The musical form of the songs is usually verse / chorus / verse / chorus / chorus, but thankfully not present in the entirety of the songs, which helped in leaving the "boring" effect on a really low scale.

What I will grade low on this album are the lead singer's vocal characteristics. They really aren't matched up to the quality of the other elements of the band. The lead singer isn't really excelling, but when joined by his brother during the choruses, or when providing the back vocals, it turns out 10 times better when compared to the parts when the lead singer is singing alone. It's the lead singer that makes the songs to be average on the verses and amazing in the choruses.

The lead singer usually sings the same flat notes during the verses, rarely singing differently, then switches to his higher vocal range for the choruses, again accompanied by his brother. I'm pretty sure that they would sound much better if the two brothers actually switched positions regarding the vocals. The lead doesn't lead very well in this case.

One thing that is notable about the vocals, are the "whoooah" lyrics you will hear in the first track... and then you will hear them a bazillion times later on during the album. What's really commendable about it, is how they repeat it, with a different take on it every time a new song is played. Though not a plus to the lead singer (since the entire "whoooah" singing is heavily dependant on the brother providing the back vocals), it's a plus to the entire vocal element of the band.

As for the other members, they do their job more than great. The drummer is concise, and the bass player acts as the Steve Harris of the band (he really does, and I will talk about the Iron Maiden inclinations a bit later on). What really surprised me about the album, is that mixing is really perfect for a underground punk band. You hear what you have to hear and you hear it when you hear it. The drums are omnipresent in the background when the guitarist and the bassist deliver the melodies, and if there is a guitar solo to be launched, drums will shot to the front along with the guitar, and the bass will subtly go to provide the background support. Honestly, the mixing is what makes the album sound so well.

Calabrese is an upfront horror punk band, and they easily handled the punk part with the exceptional "punk guitar" feel, standard fade-outs at the end of most of the songs. Intermediate soloing done by the guitarist is outstanding. However, on behalf of the music, the band easily incorporated other genres here. Some of the faster riffs have an amazing Iron Maiden (mostly Powerslave inspired) feel to them.

As for the horror part, I'd say they did that pretty great as well, although it's by no means amazing as the music element of the band's punk nature. The imagery is straight-forward, calling upon the power of the occult and the death, ever talking about the virgins, blood and the ghosts. There's nothing spectacular to be seen here, but it's not like they had to do anything else. It's a job done good enough not to be bad. What raises the quality of the horror element are the various news articles, movie scenes heard at the beginning (and sometimes in the middle) of most of the songs. Naturally, they deal with vampires, death and violence. There's also a Vincent-Price-alike speech and laughter heard in few songs(reminiscent of the one in the Thriller by Michael Jackson).

Apart from the Iron Maiden feel from it, there's the Ozzy Osbourne feel to it as well. I'm kinda convinced that's true, judging from the entire horror element... also, the lyric line "you know the wicked never rest" on their 8th track "Saturday Night of the Living Dead" is an obvious reference to the Ozzy Osbourne album.

Last, but not the least, after the last track ends (and after 10 minutes of silence) you get a special message from the band members themselves. Well, not much of a special message since it's an advertisement to visit their website, join their fan club, look at their merchandise, etc. They're simply inviting you to give them money in various ways. After all, you can't sign about the vampire bites if you don't have your own bread to eat.

Overall, I'm really satisfied with the album, and I'm glad that I got the recommendation, since the chances of me finding that album on my own were astronomically small. The obvious let-down for me were the lead vocals, but they're not bad, even though I would have rated the album way higher if they were better. 

Big thanks to Kakkun for an amazing album recommendation \o/



Overall grade: 8,5 / 10