We have not been alone in brewing eager anticipation for the debut album of Italian horrorbillies Motel Transylvania having been infected by the sounds of their They Dig After Midnight EP of 2015 as well as the numerous appearances the band has made on various compilations. Four years or so in the making finally that first full-length has crawled from the corridors of the band’s darkest corners and we can tell you it has been well worth the wait.
Formed in 2013 as a solo project of stand-up drummer/vocalist Toxi Ghoul, Motel Transylvania swiftly became a trio which unleashed a well-received debut single in the ghoulish romance of It’s not so bad. The release of They Dig After Midnight in turn established the Savona trio as a band with a potent sound and creative character equipped with the potential of bigger bolder things ahead. Their self-titled debut album realises plenty of that intimation without exhausting all the possibilities of even greater exploits ahead. Across thirteen views from the mausoleum, the album presents a multi-flavoured proposal embracing everything from horror punk and psychobilly to vintage rock ‘n’ roll, punk rock, and other death strewn hues.
It opens up with the portentously atmospheric Called, an invitation into the album’s crypt as intimidating as it is cinematically irresistible. The piece enticingly opens the gateway to the carnal goodness to come starting with Destination. The gorgeous rockabilly groove which harkens its trespass was enough to enslave attention, a submission swiftly rewarded by Toxi’s senses clipping beats and the dark upright bass grumble cast by Fish “The Scarecrow”. The guitar of Taison Gore continues to spin a web of temptation throughout only dropping its raised adrenaline for a breath to be taken before striking up again with salacious intent before the drummer’s lead vocals share their raw scowls. It is an excellent full start to the release and taster of the band’s richly flavoured and varied sound.
The following track shares the band and the album’s name, Motel Transylvania a rousing slice of horror punk with an early Misfits lilt within a labyrinth of psycho and rockabilly taunting. The predacious trespass of the rhythms and vocal causticity steals the show within a track which quickly left its indelible mark before Her Last Boogie launched its raw rock ‘n’ roll stomp on ears with zeal and increasing enterprise. A blend of the feral and the melodically precise, the track is a slice of death boogie needing little time to get punk hips whipped up.
The outstanding Drowning gives warning enough with its bass bred jaws lure before breaking upon the rocks with its blood tainted surf rock groove and barbarous intent while The Night of the Living Dead speeds rather than lumbers through ears with its The Order Of The Fly-esque stalking though the result is still an inescapable rock ‘n’ roll nagging of ears and the imagination. Both tracks add new shades to the album’s adventure and to the unfolding tales of terror; each new pleasure to devour though both are outshone by 4 and its Mad Sin meets Tiger Army like psychobilly shimmer, the albums best track.
The ghostly plains of Beyond The Lights comes next, its unearthly throes psych rock kissed seduction evolving a carnival of fevered temptation before slipping back into its ethereal decay, while its successor, It’s Not So Bad, coaxes ears with its puckered rockabilly lures before erupting in a punk nurtured hostility, repeating the cycle with greater imagination and psychosis. At every turn the track twists into unexpected escapades increasing its magnetism every step of the way.
Continuing the great multi-textured web of sounds within the album, A Place To End embraces Latin/mariachi hues to its Koffin Kats spiced uproar while the following Dead N’ Proud howls like a psychobilly inspired Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13. In turn the simply superb STOMP! Cockroaches stamps around with a great Demented Are Go inspired irritability, these three alone showing the broad landscape of sound within the Motel Transylvania bloodlust.
I Wanna Be Your Ghoul completes the release, the song another psychobilly nurtured tempting under sweltering skies; gallows rock which has the body swinging as firmly as the cadaverous romance it shares.
It is a fine end to a record which certainly pleased and had praise leaving lips on the first listen but has blossomed to far greater heights and persuasion with every subsequent venture through its sonic charnel house.
The Motel Transylvania album is out now through Undead Artists and Archetype Records.
https://www.facebook.com/moteltransylvania/ https://twitter.com/MotelTransylvan
Pete RingMaster 15/11/2018
Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright
The outstanding Party Shark Shake is next up, the song as the band’s actual name triggered by a book, no surprise here, about sharks by Susan Casey. You can almost feel the warm liquor soaked sand between the toes as the track stomps through ears, the swell of its melodic tides dragging the imagination and hips into the dangerous currents and depths below the biting dynamics of the song. Across the riveting attack, it builds up to rousing crescendos though at no moment is it anything less than an over powering incitement to body, spirit, and imagination. Imaging The Ghastly Ones and The Trashmen in collusion with The Damned and The Revillos and you get a whiff of the album’s greatest moment.
The following Poppy’s Back In Town is just as manipulative, its rowdier rock colluding with the animated canter of keys and guitar with, as in its predecessor and every song, Kman’s vocal mischief leading the fun. Lively melodies and lustful hooks line its boisterous stroll before I Don’t Mind wheels in with an instantly appealing breeze easily reminding of The Beat. The band soon adds its own distinct colour to the song, adding a vocal backing in which participation is simply unavoidable. Smith’s clipping beats just get under the skin too, the brass n turn into the passions as the track lustily manipulates body and spirit.
Recently the sad news that drummer Brian Smith has terminal pancreatic cancer was announced and a Go Fund Me page set up to support him and his family. To help out this great musician and friend to so many go to 
The spirited rhythms of drummer Phil Joyce kick EP opener Pretty Little Features into life, their increasingly tenacious antics luring ears, appetite, and the guitar jangle of Luke Fraser. Swiftly his vocals also jump in, the track bouncing round with its fifties rock ‘n’ roll scented jazz punk. With a touch of eighties band The Stargazers to it and also the jump blues hues of a Louis Jordan, the song leaps and swings, successfully insisting on the same from the listener. Punk riffs taunt throughout as the flames of Nick Smith’s Trombone unite with the sax of Oscar Ives-Owen; each adding to the virulent contagion of an outstanding start to the release.
Fair to say as soon as the opening hook and subsequent rapping on wood of Knockin infested ears we were hooked, the track swiftly showing all the virulent slightly dirty traits of our first lusty affair with The Elixirs. Dan teases and flirts with the senses through his guitar as Whitt and Nate simply incite attention with their tenacious rhythms. The track is a fiery blend of psychobilly and punk ‘n’ roll; a mischievous almost salacious incitement about the struggle of being chased by temptation and sin. In the words of their press release; “when the lord makes it rain the devil makes it pour.”
Everyman Deserves The Right To Choose His Own Path To Hell comes next, it too sharing a spicing of the aforementioned Gibraltar band within its more composed gait. Riffs jab as beats stab, melodic flames surrounding the potent vocals of Rayner as it heads to another contagion loaded chorus so easy to get wrapped up in. There is a great theatre to the song which is only enhanced by the Muse-esque venture of the guitar towards its tantalising finale, a spirit sparking climax perfectly setting up the appetite for the compelling enterprise of Time. The stringed temptation of the guitars is instant seduction and only accentuated by the rampaging thick tide of riffs and the tone gurning bass. The song relaxes into a stable energy as vocals enter the affair but eventually everything becomes turned on and hits top gear with mouth-watering imagination. The song is glorious, never settling down into any sense of predictability with each cycle a new and fresh adventure.