Creeper - Sanguivore

Paranormal punk-rock period dramas. Gothic glam-rock Greek tragedies. Horror-punk murder ballads. Creeper don't make albums, they make soundtracks, and third full-length 'Sanguivore' is no different. Leaning into the late 80s and early 90s supernatural horror scene - think The Lost Boys or Interview With A Vampire - 'Sanguivore' is a vampiric rock opera that rattles and rolls with such swagger it should be seen in stadiums: a culmination of nearly a decade's work.

Opener 'Further Than Forever' feeds their feverish desire to emulate Jim Steinman, a nine-minute rock opera romp through strip clubs, setting a bar so high Olympic pole jumpers can't reach it. Luckily, Creeper can. 'Sacred Blasphemy' is straight-up stadium-sized horror punk, whilst 'Teenage Sacrifice' shoots oxytocin straight into your veins on a bed shared by Nick Cave, Gary Numan and The Sisters Of Mercy.

'Black Heaven' digs a darkwave grave to a new-wave, gothic-rock nightclub, a heady cocktail created with equal measures of Boy Harsher, Type O Negative, and Simple Minds. Hannah Greenwood's spectral piano plays out protagonists Spook and Mercy's maddening tale on the grand finale, 'More Than Death'. Led by a lights-down-low goosebump-inducing vocal delivery by vocalist Will Gould, it leaves you crying into your record sleeves.

Whilst 2020's 'Sex, Death & The Infinite Void' peddled its wares on isolation, loss, and belonging, 'Sanguivore' joyously celebrates community, love, and second chances. Draped divinely in salacious harmonies, story–driven confessions like "Sleep well, my darling, if you sleep at all; the dark days are coming for us all, but I'll hold your hand in hell" awake something in us all, whilst Cohen-esque poetics push Creeper beyond their peers, painting skin the world over with "Untake my life, unbreak my stained-glass heart".

It feels fatalistic, but it's the simple truth: in 'Sanguivore', Creeper have carved out their masterpiece. Now, watch the world fall at their feet.