Wednesday 13 - Skeletons
Independent recording artist and former Murderdolls frontman Wednesday 13 unleashes his third full length offering ‘Skeletons’, described by himself as being his most personal work to date. It’s not without the Wednesday 13 shock horror of course, but is an album which delves deeper into the singer’s personal life, his past, present and future and his struggles with depression.
‘Skeletons’ kicks off with ‘Scream Baby Scream’, a heavy, industrialised track, with a driving beat and fast tempo. Lyrically it contains everything you’d expect from a Wednesday 13 song, for example ‘I want to eat your brains’. As far as this song goes, this doesn’t differ from previous efforts.
I briefly listen to the next couple of tracks and feel much the same, until I come across the title track of the album. This is where you hear the more personal approach, a slower tempo and very outright lyrics ‘I hear them, they’re coming, the Skeletons in my closet’. This track would make a great single, it retains catchiness, although is quite a far cry from the usual Goth horror approach. I think what I’m trying to say is that it actually comes off sounding quite serious, whereas for me Wednesday 13 has always been a little tongue in cheek.
Following ‘Skeletons’ is the track ‘My Demise’, another lyrically personal track, beginning with an acoustic guitar before building into a big sounding anthemic like song . These two tracks do seem to be alone, as the rest of the album is pretty much what we’ve heard before.
On the surface I see that there’s nothing totally new about ‘Skeletons’, but with an overall angrier feel and the two previously mentioned songs it seems Wednesday 13 has unveiled his personal traumas. The album has a darker and more sinister feel to its predecessors, perhaps detracting from the usual catchiness and melody that has been so forthright previously. As mentioned before it’s also distinctly heavier, further away from the glam punk horror to a louder guitar heavy direction. Perhaps this is a direct reflection on those battles with depression and the frustrations he has felt in his personal life which may be driven into this music.
If you’re looking for the catchy, non serious horror movie inspired music of Wednesday 13’s past, then ‘Skeletons’ probably isn’t the album for you. If you’re willing to try something a little different however, something with a bit of depth and personal feeling then I would recommend this release. This proves that Wednesday 13 has the ability to be creative when it comes to seriousness, he’s scrapped the horror clichés in a few tracks and it comes across as a very refreshing change.