The grandfathers of horror punk to some, a pale shadow imitation of the grandfathers of horror punk to others. It all depends on whether you think the Misfits died with Glen Danzigs departure, or consider that Jerry Only has done a passable job in keeping the flame alight regardless of line up changes.
Personally I've got a foot in both camps.
The Danzig era is the richest to plunder even if it does suffer from mainly crap production values, but the Michale Graves era had its fair share of highlights, and I'll admit that I have a soft spot for the Dez Cadena (Black Flag), Marky Ramone, line up that recorded 'Project 1950' with Jerry on vocals.
Unfortunately with the release of The Devils Rein - their first original album in virtually a decade - they have given the Danzig lovers plenty of ammunition to claim that they are washed up and spent.
Jerry Only may be putting in a fair vocal performance, but the material falls far short of matching anything they have done before.
To be fair the musicianship is fine, and in places the guitar work is laudable, but the very poor lyrics let everyone down.
There's no real tongue in cheek glint in the eye here.
Just bland bollocks. They have done it all before....and better.
Since the last album the people who would claim The Misfits as their defining influence have surpassed their heroes in delivering what fans of the sub genre are looking for.
The Misfits sound tired and out of place. They're lacking imagination and the touch of dark humour that is needed to carry this off.
If this was to be their last album of original material then they would be going out with a whimper rather than a bang.
A major disappointment.
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