Horror and Heavy Metal music have always had an unholy connect with each other. Arguably the first Metal band, BLACK SABBATH, had its name inspired by a 1963 horror film of the same name. DEATHWOOD have put their own punk twist on the genre and they are a Horror-Punk band with strong connection to American Horror. They also have mixed legends, myths, and horror movies inspired ideas into their music. In the year 2012, they released their first EP, called "Deathwood" with four tracks. They also shot a couple of videos from the EP and have toured extensively supporting the EP in their native Italy. In the 2013, they were asked by C.J. Ramone to open for his tour and they have also toured across Europe. The band cites several bands like MISFITS, SOCIAL DISTORTION and BAD RELIGION as their main influences. "...And If It Were True" has an old man and four teenagers sitting around a campfire and the creepy old man scares the kids with horror tales as its artwork. Which forms the basic theme of the album; what if the stories were true is the question the band asks.

"Horror Movie...Why?", the first track of the album begins with a bit of an advice to run till the light of dawn. The song reminds me of early GREEN DAY and its talks about horror movie clichés. It has a simple and effective lead and the song will definitely stay in your head long after it's done. "Losing Hand" is more or less an extension of the first song. It has the usual Punk Rock suspects, strong drumming, good use of backing vocals, and a simple riff/melody backed by good bass work. That brings us to the third track, "The legend Is True"; it has a great chorus that is sure to become an earworm. As far as the lyrical content goes, the song is not terribly profound, but the melody is extremely fetching. "Ghosts" is a slightly slower song and it's about a bunch of people in a haunted house. Again, a pop-ish sounding track, it has a simple riff and is an uncomplicated track.
The album closes out with "The Day Is Over"; the song has an infectious riff and it speeds up as the song progresses. It's a song with heavy backing vocals that surely will demand crowd participation.

I must admit, I had a lot of fun listening to this album. It is a great rocking record and just manages to bring a smile to me, even though they are singing about morbid horrors. Its almost pop-ish in parts, but the production is spot on and the songs are rather catchy. The downside of this album is I think that the songs are quite similar and follow a certain set pattern, which can be frustrating to the listener. Having said that, it is rather commendable that the band sings in a language that is not native to them and they do sound rather good even when they do falter in a few places with pronunciations and words not fitting the melody. Like most Punk songs, almost all the songs in the album are rarely over 3 minutes.

The band is quite active on the touring scene and these days are in the process of filming their videos and setting tour dates. The album in itself has received rave reviews and is praised by critics. The band also has won a few awards and they are quite optimistic about the Punk scene in their native land. This is a good solid fun record with competent musicianship. I would definitely recommend it.<