Shadowland

The band name may suggest a Nuggets-worshipping garage band while their look in the CD tray suggests Total Chaos' Clash-fandom (certainly guitarist Daniel Deleon isn't hiding it with his T-shirt). But the Deep Eynde, who have been around in one form or another since 1990, have a little something more going for them than that, thanks in particular to singer Fate Fatal, who knows just how to use his more gothed-out roots to good effect. Equipped with just the right dark crooning edge to his voice that suggests plenty of time getting inspiration from the likes of Dave Vanian and Misfits-era Glenn Danzig, Fatal and his bandmates whip up an enjoyable album with Shadowland, following an earlier series of German-only releases. After kicking off with the single and calling card "Suicide Drive," one of the better invocations to a doomier LA than has been heard in a while, the quartet serve up a set of songs that is at the least enjoyable and at the best downright great. One or two songs are straight-up crash and bash punk but most take the time for Deleon to get in some atmosphere and memorable riffs as well as the velocity — at no point do they simply just rely on high-speed for the sake of it. Fatal, meanwhile, is the ultimate not-so-secret weapon — like Danzig, his gift is that he clearly aiming to sing rather than bellow or screech. Importantly, the mix never buries him either, and the result on songs like "Devilchild" is a crisp, suave sense of him commanding the performances. The horror-movie edge to things may not be as distinct as it once was but song titles like "She Likes Skulls" and "Killing Time" still work as their own form of good fun.