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Album Reviews : Reaper’s Riddle – A Touch of Death

By on September 29, 2011

It’s funny how different it can be reviewing one album from the next. There are releases that fill the mind with so many different bits and pieces of information that trying to actually rearrange the thoughts into a cohesive piece of writing (that’s not the length of Lord of the Rings) causes violent outbursts and intense migraines, and then there are those that are a struggle to drag out to more than fifty words. A Touch of Death is the latter. It’s almost as simple as “if groovy, pub rock’n’roll with the type of horror filled lyrics that you’d expect from Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie takes your fancy, then this is for you”.

But, in the end, that would also be selling Perth’s Reaper’s Riddle a bit short. While the whole release has the same dark, beer-tinged vibe, it is clearly the product of a bunch of musicians with varying influences. The marching riffs and vocals of opener “Zombified” bring the aforementioned Rob Zombie to mind, sans industrial influences, while “Lost in Ink” kicks the pace up a bit, bringing  a touch of Judas Priest-esque classic heavy metal to the table. “No Strings Attached” breaks through the darkness for a bit, with lyrics that make Steel Panther look subtle, and the superb acoustic closer “One Red Rose” is an emotional ballad that wouldn’t be out of place on a Bon Jovi record.

While there are a few uninspired riffs here and there, and the quality of the cleaner vocals wavers between songs, Reaper’s Riddle have put together the type of EP that’s not only highly entertaining, but hints at promising things on the live front. The balance of darkness and pub fun is spot-on, and they have an obvious knack for writing great choruses. So once again, I return to my original point; if catchy, horror-fuelled rock’n’roll gets you excited, then Reaper’s Riddle are your band. 7.5/10

Band: Reaper’s Riddle
Album: A Touch of Death
Year: 2011
Genre: Hard rock
Origin: Perth, Australia
Label: Independent
http://www.reapersriddle.com/

Track listing:
1. Intro
2. Zombified
3. Cursed
4. Fall Away
5. No Strings Attached
6. Lost in Ink
7. One Red Rose

About

Mitch Booth is the owner, designer and grand overlord of Metal Obsession. In the few seconds of spare time he has outside of this site, he also hosts a metal radio show over on PBS 106.7fm in Melbourne (Australia) and organises shows under the name Untitled Touring. You should follow him on Twitter.