Right after the opening rhythms of the intro of "Bajo Multa", I began to think about how hard it was for me to make anything of what I was listening to. I don't know why but the first thought that hovered inside my head led to a notion that I was listening to MARILYN MANSON and ALICE COOPER like approaches but covered by blocks of groove driven modern Death / Thrash Metal. At first it was both nice and weird in the same time like an evil being laughing itself crazy behind my back. This is what I could make of the new STERBHAUS debut album, "Hits For Dead Kids".

In overall the band's music is rather diverse as there is a line of shifts between Metal subgenres. I can even say that the band tried to be melodic with several harmonies but not even close to the manner of melodic Death Metal. Other than that, the album passed me by without arousing any special kind of thrill. In their nasty and black humorous way STERBHAUS built a weird manifestation that can be worked on as a prospect for future years but no more than that. Some of the tracks have some fine riffs that maintained the aura of comic like horror. Yet, and it didn't happen just once, I had the feeling that I was listening to disorganized or unconnected rhythms within songs. That was a bit confusing and not what I would consider as fun.

The members of the band, some were once joined to some of their local scene's primes, seemed to have wanted to loosen themselves up and that is exactly what they did. With their ongoing craziness they put a pair of wild cards in the image of "Sinister Neckgrip", "House Of The Dead Dwarf" and "STD Fur Alles". Nonetheless, I haven't reached the same level of enthusiasm when I listened to the rest of the tracklist. Whether the themes were a joke or just plain bloody horror stories, that didn't change the fact that even if there were powerful riffs laying around there shouldn't be a feel of disorder and chaos.

I got to hand it for STERBHAUS, their awkwardness made them uncommon. However, diversity or not I can't hide the reality that when a displayed track is showing signs of mess, it won't get far in the long run.