Saint Vitus: Saint Vitus (2019)

A lot of bands have a self-titled album among their releases.  Not many bands can say that they have two.  Saint Vitus can though.  This is the band's second self-titled album, with the first one coming way back in 1984.  That was the band's debut and is a landmark album.  Saint Vitus was one of the first bands that took what Black Sabbath was doing in the early 1970's and really ran with it, becoming one of the first doom metal bands in the process.

This album sees the second return to the fold by original vocalist Scott Reagers.  Guitarist Dave Chandler has been the only member of Saint Vitus to stick with the band throughout their history.  The band has featured the legendary Scott "Wino" Weinrich in the past, during times in which Reagers has not been in the band.

With the Sabbath comparison from before, one can get the impression of what this band sounds like.  Dark, fuzzy riffs and slow tempos with mourning, soulful vocals with a harder edge.  The band does sometimes lock into a rumbling, faster-paced groove which breaks up the slower songs.  The band sounds absolutely raw, like they just woke up from a massive hangover and rolled into the studio to record.  There is nothing pretty here, just whiskey-fueled mayhem.

The minor quibble that I have is the guitar tone on the solos.  I do not have a ton of experience listening to Saint Vitus, but my god, Chandler uses an ugly, squealing guitar tone on his solos.  It fits reasonably well with the music because it is not the kind of thing that a well-trained classical guitarist would play.  It is ugly and gritty and it definitely matches the attitude of the band.

Saint Vitus has been around for a long time and their sound is truly timeless, sounding like a band who has been through some hard times and learned some tough lessons.  It is gritty and dark, doomy and gloomy.  But fuck, if I don't love it.  Pass the whiskey.