When last we heard from Wednesday 13, it was in 2021 with the excellent Necrophaze – Antidote EP (reviewed here). Now back with his ninth album, the “Duke of Spook” had already set a high bar for Horrifier when he unleashed his heaviest track to date, Insides Out, as a single. Supercharged by a suitably gory video, it certainly had fans in a froth and now, with the parent album finally having hit the racks, we have the opportunity to see what other dark delights Wednesday and his ghouls have in store for us.
Horrifier kicks off with the ominous, John Carpenter throb of Severed, a sub-one minute introduction that sets the pulse racing in time for the slow-paced horror of Insides Out to step into frame. With squealing guitars, rasping vocals and just a hint of melody, it makes for a compelling album opener, and it shows that Wednesday 13 has lost none of his gift for melding horror imagery and industrial grit to exceptionally brutal effect. Next up, Wednesday adopts the sort of carnival sideshow vibe that typified Rob Zombie’s debut on Exhume And Devour, a tongue in cheek belter with battering ram riff and a catchy chorus very much in evidence. That catchiness remains on You’re So Hideous (the album’s lead single), which harks back to Alice Cooper’s underrated industrial effort, Brutal Planet. With the album flying past, Wednesday ups the pace with the cracking Good Day To Be A Bad Guy, which takes 80s hair metal, forces it through an industrial blender and grinds out an irresistibly pulpy belter, complete with an impossibly catchy, singalong chorus.
Dropping into the world of Halloween, the slower Return To Haddenfield has a strong melodic hook and a Sisters of Mercy vibe that does much to recall the atmosphere of the grim, 1978 classic. Next up, the title track emerges from a dark synth haze, before the band unleash a bruising, chugging riff that sits alongside Insides Out in the heaviness stakes. In contrast, Hell Is Coming is a slower beast with a groove metal vibe, that sits somewhere between mid-period Metallica and Pantera. Packed with some classic riffs, it gives the second half of the album some serious weight. The shorter Halfway To The Grave keeps the pace brisk, although it’s such an unexpected and unashamedly faithful throwback to 80s hard rock that you’ll feel the need to check outside, just to make sure Jason’s not waiting to take you down with a sharpened garden implement. That John Carpenter connection is back again with the ridiculously heavy Christine: Fury In The Night, which sounds like WASP going head-to-head with White Zombie. A short, sharp shock, it’s followed by the slower-paced album closer, The Other Side, a not-entirely successful piece that can’t decide whether to keep things brutal or slip into ballad territory. However, while weaker than the preceding ten tracks, it does sound like the closing music for a tacky, 80s horror film and, to that extent, provides the album with the ending the band no doubt intended.
As with previous Wednesday 13 releases, Horrifier is a love letter both to horror and to the genre of heavy metal as a whole. As such, it hops from blistering industrial to hair metal, passing through myriad other styles along the way. That such an approach is successful is primarily due to the obvious passion Wednesday 13 and his ghouls have for the form. Whether punishing the listener with a bludgeoning riff or teasing out a ridiculously catchy melody, the band never sound like they are having anything less than a blast, and the result is the aural equivalent of the slasher flicks from which they take so much inspiration. A cracking party album, whack this on at Halloween in place of a playlist and watch your guests go nuts – Horrifier is a whole lot of fun. 8.5/10
Horrifier is available for pre-order in the following formats:
-1-CD Digisleeve
-1-LP Gatefold BLACK
-1-CD Digisleeve + Shirt – Napalm RoW Mailorder Only
-1-LP Gatefold SPLATTER RED/WHITE/BLACK w/ Ouija Board incl. Planchette – Napalm Mailorder Only, limited to 500 worldwide
-Digital Album
WEDNESDAY 13 is currently thrilling US crowds on his ’20 Years Of Fear’ Tour, featuring a career spanning setlist! Full itinerary below. Tickets and VIP experiences are available now!
WEDNESDAY 13’s ’20 Years Of Fear’ Tour, 2nd Leg:
9 Sep 2022 – Oklahoma City, OK – Whiskey Nights
10 Sep 2022 – Ft. Smith, AR – Temple Live/Sphinx Club
11 Sep 2022 – St. Louis, MO – Red Flag
13 Sep 2022 – Indianapolis, IN – Emerson Theater
14 Sep 2022 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverfront Live
16 Sep 2022 – Charlotte, NC – Amos Southend
17 Sep 2022 – Knoxville, TN – The Concourse
18 Sep 2022 – Greenville, SC – Radio Room
20 Sep 2022 – Richmond, VA – Canal Club
21 Sep 2022 – Virginia Beach, VA – Elevation 27
22 Sep 2022 – Baltimore, MD – Soundstage
23 Sep 2022 – Teaneck, NJ – Debonair Music Hall
24 Sep 2022 – Mechanicsburg, PA – Lovedrafts
25 Sep 2022 – Stroudsburg, PA – Sherman Lite
26 Sep 2022 – Philadelphia, PA – Milkboy
29 Sep 2022 – Atlantic City, NJ – Bourne
30 Sep 2022 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Meadows
1 Oct 2022 – Albany, NY – Empire Underground
3 Oct 2022 – Boston, MA – Sonia
4 Oct 2022 – Montreal, QC – Foufounes Electriques
5 Oct 2022 – Quebec City, QC – L’anti Bar & Spectacles
6 Oct 2022 – Ottawa, ON – Brass Monkey
7 Oct 2022 – Toronto, ON – Rockpile
9 Oct 2022 – Westland, MI – Token Lounge
11 Oct 2022 – Cleveland, OH – Masonic Asylum Room
12 Oct 2022 – Chicago, IL – WC Social Club
14 Oct 2022 – Des Moines, IA – Lefty’s
15 Oct 2022 – Lincoln, NE – Royal Grove
16 Oct 2022 – Wichita, KS – Temple Live Annex
17 Oct 2022 – Fort Worth, TX – Rail Club
18 Oct 2022 – San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger
20 Oct 2022 – Tucson, AZ – The Rock
21 Oct 2022 – Las Vegas, NV – Count’s Vamp’d
22 Oct 2022 – Palmdale CA -Transplant Brewing Co
23 Oct 2022 – Anaheim, CA – The Parish @ House Of Blues
After the North American headline tour, WEDNESDAY 13 will go on to join Ministry on their Moral Hygiene European Tour. Dates below.
WEDNESDAY 13 European tour dates with Ministry & The 69 Eyes:
28 Oct 2022 – Germany Dortmund – FZW
30 Oct 2022 – Netherlands Tilburg – 013
31 Oct 2022 – Germany Frankfurt – Batschkapp
2 Nov 2022 – England LONDON – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
3 Nov 2022 – Scotland GLASGOW – SWG3 TV Studio
4 Nov 2022 – Ireland DUBLIN – National Stadium
5 Nov 2022 – England BIRMINGHAM – Asylum – WEDNESDAY 13 & 69 Eyes only
7 Nov 2022 – France Paris – Elysée Montmartre
8 Nov 2022 – France Rennes – Antipode
9 Nov 2022 – Spain Bilbao – Santana 27
11 Nov 2022 – Spain Madrid – But
11 Nov 2022 – Spain Murcia – Gamma
13 Nov 2022 – Spain Barcelona – Razzmatazz
14 Nov 2022 – France Lyon – Transbordeur
16 Nov 2022 – Switzerland Zürich – Komplex
17 Nov 2022 – Germany München – Muffathalle
18 Nov 2022 – Italy Milan – Fabrique
19 Nov 2022 – Slovenia Ljubljana – Kino Šiška
21 Nov 2022 – Hungary Budapest – Barba Negra
22 Nov 2022 – Czech Rep Prague – Forum Karlin
23 Nov 2022 – Poland Warsaw – Progresja
24 Nov 2022 – Germany Berlin – Huxleys
26 Nov 2022 – Germany Hamburg – Gruenspan
27 Nov 2022 – Denmark Roskilde – Gimle
28 Nov 2022 – Norway Oslo – Rockefeller
29 Nov 2022 – Sweden Stockholm – Fållan
1 Dec 2022 – Finland Helsinki – Black Box
WEDNESDAY 13 is:
Wednesday 13 – vocals
Roman Surman – lead guitar
Jack Tankersley – guitar
Troy Doebbler – bass
Mike Dupke – drums
