Legendary ex-MISFITS guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein formed his solo project DOYLE in 2012, with a focus on horror culture and the beauty of the dark side. "II (As We Die)" is their sophomore release, and contains thirteen tracks. I have to admit that I am not familiar with his work, but anything in the horror culture genre certainly peaks my interest. From their Facebook page, "DOYLE cranks out music as scary as THE MISFITS, as doom laden as BLACK SABBATH, and has the same hard-hitting in your face style of metal as MOTORHEAD or SLAYER." Let's get down to the album here.

"Kiss Me as we Die" begins with some sinister minor guitar notes, leading to a full attack sound that sounds like a modern version of BLACK SABBATH. The super-distorted guitar chords are chunky and meaty, like a hearty blood stew filled your favorite body parts...eyeballs, brains, arms and legs. The chorus is the heart of the song for me. I like the fact that there are varied vocals present, as it adds layers to the point. You can't help hear some Punk influence as well, with many of the songs averaging three minutes each. "God of Flies" is a weighted, skull thumping affair, like a sledge hammer decimating concrete slabs as dust fills the air. "Darkside" has an air of mystery at first that quickly gives way to a faster moving track with a heavy bottom end and some pig squeals from the axes. An eerie lead break is a nice touch as well.

In "Witchcraft," it's all about the groovy rhythm, like a twisted perversion of something you might have head from THE DOORS. "King of the Undead" dials up the terror a few notches with a harrowing sound that is beckoning and scary at the same time. Ever the clean vocals have a chilling effect of sorts. "We Belong Dead" has an old school swing to it, like a killer casually strolling the hallways of an asylum, serendipitously deciding his next victims. "Dark Gods Arise" sounds like a calling to someone who can end it all. What arises is a Black beast from the depths ready to consume your very being. "Night of Sin" closes the album. It starts off dark and dastardly, but quickly moves into a charging piece that is thick and meaty.

DOYLE has an interesting sound on "II (As We Die)." They are able to reach into the wormhole that can magically transport you to any time and any place and grab some elements of earlier Metal, Doom and even Punk bands, and extract them into the modern day. There are things to scare you, excite you, and move you on a physical level. Give this album some love.