I'll start out by stating the obvious, this album is NOT the Monster Mash. If you're scared of vampires, stop reading and run away now, far away. The Lee Variations by VINTERDRACUL self-released in July 2022 thru their Bandcamp website is a combination of nightmares and horror movies. Formed in 2021 in Baltimore, yes Baltimore, Maryland, not Transylvania (which would have been so cool) and released their debut album The Murnau Nocturnes. The band's name is conceived from co-founder Weirding Batweilder from a screen play he was writing about campers who get trapped in a old farmhouse inhabited by a vampire. The duo of Weirding and Jean Farraige play all the instruments, do all the writing, recording, and mixing. The Lee Variations isn't a biography of any sort, it's a dark and blackened two-part concept album (for future release) which attempts to get inside the mind of what it takes, and what it means, to be the villain. "The last two albums were actually written around the people who make vampire movies" explains Batweilder. The band describes their sound as "unnatural monstrosity of blackened gothic sound replete with noise, pummeling beats, and a hoarse whiplash vocal delivery served up pre-dawn in the shadow of a hill of gravestones following the last showing of a midnight horror classic". Do we have your attention yet? They definitely have a sound that was tough for me to digest at first and even tougher to find words to review. But being a horror film fan myself, I needed to give a good, solid listen to this album, but believe me, I am leaving all the lights on in the house when I do.

First, there are 13 songs, coincidence? I think not, and only one song is over three minutes, and only by four seconds. Ok, I've got my wooden stake, crucifix, and garlic necklace, if I don't come back alive, tell my wife I love her. I can lump most of these 13 songs into the same basket, or should I say coffin, the vocals, or death screams are at times piercing, blood-curdling or down right scaring the crap out of me, which isn't a bad thing. I expected to feel like I'm in a vampire movie. The opener "End Scene" is sinister and eerie, which perfectly sets the tone for this album. The second song "Playing Dead" comes out kicking and screaming, and I mean screaming, with some heavy guitar riffs and even heavier drumbeats. A perfect start to "We are Vampires" with rhythmic guitar blasting through and thundering drums kicking at your skull that felt like vampires marching towards me. "Ten Years" actually had a pretty nice rocking sound with a powerful guitar intro. A total creep out for "Monster Mask", a slow melodic drumbeat starts out before it bursts into a frantic guitar frenzy with some eerie organ interludes thrown in to help complete the "creep-out". "Disillusionment" is a scary song, but has some nice, rocking guitar work. The truest rocker would have to be "Sword Play", heavy guitar encapsulated with crushing drums.

Oh, did I mention this album was recorded partially in an actual haunted house, and why not? The album is overall very intriguing with deep, dark, and ominous lyrics to complete the creepiness. "I will entomb your living breath; I am the Prince of Darkness" or "Your bodies fill boxes carried by hearses". This album is a gothic horror story come to life, it's bone-chilling, chaotic and disturbing. But overall, I found the uniqueness appealing in a sadistic way, once I got past the vocals sounding like Sam Kinison being tortured. So, when you're in a morbid or macabre mood, crank this one up, but remember to keep all the lights on.