“Death for pleasure, live forever, give yourself to me.“
Creeper‘s latest offering, Sanguivore, takes listeners on a journey into uncharted musical territory for the band, combining elements of theatrical rock with ’80s glam and hair rock influences. The result is a unique sonic experience, for better or for worse.
“Further Than Forever” opens the album with a cinematic flourish, featuring Disney-esque pianos that evoke images of a Broadway musical. The nine-minute epic exhibits clear shifts in mood that is a staple for Creeper at this stage in their career. The track introduces the listener to the world of Sanguivore, setting the scene for the narrative to take place in, and making it clear early on that not all is as it seems. The track suffers slightly from the length, particularly towards the seven-minute mark, where it may have made more sense to split the track in two to aid with fatigue. Overall, the opener is a decent effort and does manage to stay relatively entertaining for its nine-minute runtime, a feat that I cannot say many bands often achieve for me personally. The keys are the clear standout here, contributing to the atmosphere of the album massively, and showcasing that Creeper are still very capable of combining aspects of different musical genres with ease. As an opener, it isn’t the band’s strongest output, but it would be unfair to argue that it doesn’t achieve what it sets out to.
We follow this up with one of the album’s lead singles, “Cry to Heaven“, which begins with an ’80s inspired synthy intro, clearly drawing inspiration from the likes of Bon Jovi. Will Gould’s vocals are on-brand, showcasing his impressive range and ability. This is sadly let down by the instrumentation, which leans towards the basic side, lacking any real standout elements. The chorus is designed for arena rock sing-alongs, and the narrative delivery through lyrics, whilst on the nose, doesn’t feel forced and works quite nicely. There’s a nice moment on here post-guitar solo where we are given an acapella moment which provides a nice break and alleviates the feeling of the track becoming repetitive. It’s an interesting choice of lead single, given its departure from Creeper‘s typical sound, but Gould’s vocals make it a reasonable decision.
“Sacred Blasphemy” goes in the opposite direction, giving us much stronger instrumentation at the cost of basic and subdued vocals. A more theatrical approach would have greatly elevated this track, but it instead lacks that true Creeper flair that fans have grown to know and love. The spoken word-style verses, though fitting for the theme and narrative, fall short of fully engaging the listener. There is potential here though, and the chorus, simple as it is, will likely become a sing-along staple at live shows. Again, the spoken word narrative rears its head, detracting from the music itself. This delivery may be better suited for a live setting, where the band is able to put on a performance, but in a studio context it is flat and distracting.
“The Ballad of Spook and Mercy” begins with backing vocalist Hannah Greenwood providing some haunting “oooooooos,” which lead us into this slow ballad. This track, which at times feels reminiscent of slower tracks from the band’s early EPs, has a huge emphasis on Gould‘s vocals, to great effect. When it picks up, we are given another basic guitar solo, but this time it fits the mood well and carries a melodic quality. I can’t help but feel as though the song should have concluded around the three-minute mark, with the subsequent regression to the slower sound with which it began feeling rather unnecessary. Overall, this track embodies the classic Creeper style, elevated by Hannah‘s contributions.
“Lovers Led Astray” injects a punky energy with fun instrumentals. Yet, there is something not quite right in the instrumentation, including a bizarre production choice with the snare. Where Greenwood‘s vocals elevated the previous track, the opposite is true here; at times they mesh with the track perfectly, but for the majority they come across feeling forced. Gentle synths, however, do add to the atmosphere nicely without overpowering the band.
“Teenage Sacrifice” revisits the choral chants from previous tracks, which at this point are grating. The intro riff and chorus are both uninspired and fail to stand out both vocally and instrumentally. This proves true also of the narrative element which, while necessary for the record’s storyline, is also not at all captivating. Once again, the guitar solo, like so many others on the album so far, is disappointing and lacking in depth.
“Chapel Gates“, however, is a standout track, and the album would be improved greatly by more like it. This fast-paced, punkier number is more akin to Gould’s side project, Salem, adopting an upbeat, energetic, and fun demeanour whilst managing to not stray too far from the record’s ’80s sound. Despite its instrumental simplicity, it effectively showcases the band’s talent, and proves they are capable of putting out fun and catchy tracks. The track is not perfect, though; once again we are given a completely unexciting narrative portion.
“The Abyss” appears to reuse the intro from “Teenage Sacrifice“, which I personally found to be massively unnecessary and repetitive. This leads into the album’s third single, “Black Heaven“, which garnered massive hype following a livestream where the fanbase memed drummer Jake Fogarty for loving it so much. “Black Heaven“ fully embraces an ’80s synth-driven sound. While the vocals suit the track’s mood, they come across as somewhat uninteresting and dull. The lyrical content here also falls short, lacking depth with lines like “die, die for me / you said you would / you promised me” really coming across as a lazy high-school English project. It’s not all doom and gloom, as there is a brief reprieve following the chorus with some additional guitar work that is quite interesting. Yet, this is short-lived. “Black Heaven” is arguably the least Creeper track the band have ever put out, and not for the better.
“More Than Death” opens with a pretty piano intro and offers yet another showcase of Gould‘s vocal prowess. The dominance of the keys fails to carry the chorus, however, and would have benefited from additional instrumentation. The track undergoes a significant shift later on, introducing strings in the background and providing a welcomed change in dynamics that leads into quite an intense moment, before concluding the album by gracefully fading into a softer vocal delivery.
Ultimately, Sanguivore represents a significant departure from Creeper‘s established sound, delving into ’80s glam and hair rock influences. The notable moments are too few and far between. The shift could potentially alienate a portion of their audience, and although superfans may appreciate it for the (admittedly lacklustre) narrative behind it, this change is not one that I can see resonating with or being embraced by a good portion of Creeper listeners. This new direction that the band has taken, whilst intriguing, hinders their ability to showcase what makes them unique.
The absence of a Hannah-led track is also hugely disappointing, especially after fantastic responses to the tracks on Sex, Death, And The Infinite Void and American Noir. Furthermore, her vocal features with bands in the heavier scene such as on Void Of Vision’s “Altar” have truly showcased her talent. It feels like a huge oversight here for her to not have a more prominent role.
Personally, having followed Creeper since their EP days, Sanguivore is disheartening. It has been wonderful to see Creeper grow and try new things as their musical career progresses but, in this case, I can’t help but feel they have strayed too far from their tried-and-true formula, and have lost what made them truly special. As an 80’s rock tribute album, this is an all right, if trope-riddled, attempt. But, that sound is just not what Creeper is. Nor is Sanguivore a good enough rendition of the style to justify how harsh of a departure it is sonically from their previous material.
Artistic evolution is commendable, but Sanguivore is truly a case of moving too fast, too soon. For those looking for a theatrical, ’80s rock album following a stale plot revolving around vampires, here is your gold mine. For existing fans of Creeper and their signature punk rock sound, I’d say give this one a miss.
4/10
Sanguivore will release this Friday, October 13th, via Spinefarm Records, and you can pre-order it here.