devils whorehouse blood & ashes

Released: 25 May 2009 Label: Regain Records

Devils Whorehouse began life as a Misfits / Samhain covers band and is largely the brainchild of Marduk guitarist Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson.

Initially I have to admit that I was rather underwhelmed by Blood & Ashes because, well, as I already said the band started life as a Misfits / Samhain covers bands and to be quite frank it sounds like a tribute band that have started to write their own songs too with not the slightest hint of originality. After repeated listening though I’ve found that plenty of the songs have crawled into my head and taken up residence there with the horror-punk of Werewolf and the death-rock of Shadows Never Change in particular being ridiculously catchy – and not in an irritating way either.

Vocalist Maelstrom does one of the better Danzig impersonations I’ve ever heard, with his mid and low range singing being particularly impressive and managing to come up with quite a few memorable vocal lines for good measure too.

Some songs do pass you by and there is the hint of filler occasionally but while far from being an essential purchase Blood & Ashes is for the most part a very enjoyable listen for people who enjoyed all the different eras of Danzig’s career but particularly the Samhain years and the first few Danzig solo albums... and just in case you were in any doubt as to who Devils Whorehouse’s main inspiration was the album finishes with a ‘secret’ uncredited cover of Samhain’s Let the Day Begin which, though not quite up to the original, is still a very good version of the song.


by Neil Woodfin