Brand new, sealed cd.
Comes with a slipcase.
After the chaos that went on in Kill For Pleasure Blood Feast started heading in a more controlled & calm direction. Chopping Block Blues may not be as fast as the previous full length release but it’s an entertaining album none the less.
Well to begin with the production on this album is great, it has a clear & controlled feel to it & is far from the barbarity that plagued Kill For Pleasure. Also this album has a few quirks to it in the production that I find slightly amusing, like the pre-chorus in Hunted, Stalked & Slain, with it’s warped and eerie feel.
But musicianship is better this time around. The guitar work is slowed way down, but it’s taken a more technical step, not a huge step like Vendetta took, but it feels more intelligent than Kill For Pleasure. They’ve also gotten more controlled, but they still contain a decent amount of energy to keep one’s attention up, well except Hitler Painted Roses which I find a very dull cover tune. As for the solo work it’s decent, the best would be in Hunted, Stalked & Slain, with the darkened overtone & the speedy finish. That’s something I failed to mention before, the guitar when stacked up with their previous releases have this dark & sinister vibe to them, which I really dig personally. The rhythm section is decent as well. The percussion is fairly fast but is a bit undermixed, the bass as well. Their audible in most places but often you get these parts where it has a thin sound because of the undermixed rhythm section. But as for the vocals they’ve been toned down since their debut, Gary Markovitch took a more calm approach. Now he still has moments reminiscent of Kill For Pleasure but their mostly in the choruses of the songs. One other aspect of the music that is enjoy is the into/outro to the title track, with the Frenchmen yelling “Test the Guillotine!”.
Chopping Block Blues is a good album with some minor faults that overall holds it back somewhat. But when compared to it predecessors this is quite the gem-89%