CD Reviews

Misfits | The Devil's Rain

Misfits Records (2011)

By MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER | September 27, 2011

2.0 Stars

The reason there hasn't been a new Misfits record of all original material in a dozen years is because without Glenn Danzig, it's just not the Misfits. A Misfits lineup with bassist Jerry Only as the sole remaining original is akin to drummer Brian Downey pimping Thin Lizzy as legit. Thing is, Downey doesn't share Only's compulsion to release new material under his previous band's moniker. So you can expect this effort with Only at the mic to be rejected much as the late-'90s fiascos with singer Michale Graves were. That's a shame, because The Devil's Rain is chock full of good, campy horror business. But unlike Danzig, who eventually had the balls to go at it under his own name after the demise of the original outfit in 1983, Only lacked the confidence, reviving the Crimson Ghost in the mid-'90s. Unfortunately the legend stops with the glut of Hot Topic marketing, despite a valiant musical attempt here. "Monkey's Paw" has Only trying pitifully hard to ape the Misfits' "Last Caress," and tracks like "Curse of the Mummy's Hand" and "Ghost of Frankenstein" are too predictable to be more than schlock, though "Unexplained," "Vivid Red," and "Sleepwalkin' " are fun and frightfully ferocious. These guys just need another alias.

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