Murder by Death, “Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?”: I’m a sucker for a good story. I’ll take one any way I can get it. Movies, books, TV, comics, video games – as long as it’s interesting and well-told, I don’t care. A few years ago Murder by Death released an album that combined a good story with my other passion: music.
“Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?” tells a tale of a man who shoots the devil in the back in a saloon, and the havoc that the devil wreaks to get revenge. Over 10 tracks, singer Adam Turla weaves tales of the devil, zombies, whiskey and coping with life at the end of the world all set in an old Western scene. The band’s varied music, which features a cello, nicely compliments Turla’s lyrics, giving the tale a palpably haunting feeling. Listeners won’t just hear this story, they’ll see it and feel it.
Is he really reviewing an album that came out two years ago, you ask? Well, yes. But there’s more. You see, last week Murder by Death released “At the End of the Road” on the “Masters of Horror” soundtrack. The gem, which was buried amongst the likes of Mudvayne and Avenged Sevenfold, serves as a preview for Murder by Death’s upcoming album “In Bocca Di Lupo,” another concept album inspired by Dante’s Inferno. “In Bocca Di Lupo” is slated for release in 2006. I don’t want to spoil “At the End of the Road,” but it’s good, it’s available on iTunes and it’s more than worth the $0.99 you’ll pay to download it.
-Andrew McCollum