When the riffs start to flow, the concrete turns red with blood. Undisputed masters of bloodthirsty Sabbathian purity, Church Of Misery returns to kill again.

 

Formed in Tokyo, Japan, in 1995, Church Of Misery had a pin-sharp and focused vision from the very start. Led by bassist and mercurial riff-machine Tatsu Mikami, they conjured a perfectly pulverizing new strain of doom metal purity, wherein an endless succession of monstrous pentatonic riffs collided with obnoxious levels of swing and swagger. Early releases like 1998’s seminal Taste The Pain EP and full-length debut Master Of Brutality (released in 2001) heralded the arrival of a uniquely potent and obsessive force. With every song dedicated to a documented serial killer, Church Of Misery set fire to stoner rock’s peace and love principles and plunged deep into humanity’s darkest horrors instead.

 

Five full-length albums, numerous split releases, and multiple trips around the planet to spread the bloody code of doom later, few would dispute that Mikami’s crew are the living, breathing, riffing epitome of everything Lord Iommi taught us. And now, with the utterly peerless Born Under A Mad Sign, Church Of Misery are back to reclaim the throne.