Album of the day: Saint Vitus – Die Healing (vinyl reissue)

Praise for Saint Vitus‘ Die Healing from San Francisco’s Aquarius Records:  Doom. Vinyl. Die Healing. Need we go on?? Doom metal fans, probably all you need to know is that this album by LA godfathers of doom Saint Vitus, never before on vinyl, and long out of print on cd, is now here. However, we will go on…

Nobody could have guessed it back in 1995, when this album was first released, but 2010 is shaping up to be a pretty good year for ol’ Saint Vitus. Not just one reunion show, but an extensive, well-attended tour! Vinyl reissues of their SST era records! And this, a lovingly crafted vinyl version (first time on wax!!) for what was their 7th and final full-length studio album before calling it quits! We also hear rumors of a NEW album being made. However, as much as we’ll be excited to hear it, there’s no way they can top THIS.

While it might have been their final record, a last hurrah, hardly noticed by an uncaring world, it was also one of their best ever. For one thing, it marked the brief return of their original and best vocalist, the amazing Scott Reagers. Apologies to Wino, who’s fronting the band for their current reunion… Some will differ, Wino certainly has his fans, we like him a lot too, Born Too Late and Mournful Cries are great albums, but let’s just say there’s no other singer quite like Scotty Reagers. Vitus was lucky to have had him in the first place, and lucky to have had him back for this. His dramatic and dynamic delivery, gloomy and ghoulish, yet classic castle-metal through and through, keeps us spellbound.

Guitarist Dave Chandler steps up with some great sludgy slo-mo Sabbathy riffs (of course) and wah wah’d out, psychedelic punk soloing (of course). The atmosphere is sooooo despairing. Opener “Dark World”, later covered by Reverend Bizarre, is a classic, what a riff! But that’s just the beginning… “One Mind”, “Let The End Begin”, “The Sloth”, “Return Of The Zombie”, heck all the tracks are awesome, any Vitus fan should agree. The entire album harks back to the feeling of their first few records in the mid ’80s, really as if Reagers had never left the band. And again his singing is crucial here, over the top wailing with a wretched, grotesque edge to it. Emotive and eccentric. Perfect for the plodding, fuzz-filled creepy-crawls that fill this pestilent platter. He might be singing about sloths and zombies (he IS singing about sloths and zombies) but damn does it sound sincere and MEANINGFUL – ignore him at your peril. Drop the needle on this and learn what it is to be doomed!!

While we should also list the abovementioned SST reissues, many of them must-haves too, this seemed even more exciting ’cause so few folks ever got the chance to get it, the cds were imports and it was one of the last releases on the label (Hellhound) before it folded. And like we said, there never ever was vinyl. Now there is, and fairly deluxe vinyl at that, complete with embossing on the cover for the Vitus logo. And yeah, of course it’s limited… even if it wasn’t, though, you gotta get it, we’d just be telling you to buy two of ‘em!!

Tags: album of the day, Aquarius Records, Buried By Time And Dust, Dave Chandler, Die Healing, doom, saint vitus, Scott Reagers

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 11:40 am and is filed under 2010, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.