The Duke of Spook, Wednesday 13, released new album Mid Death Crisis on April 25.
The opening interlude is a haunting repetition of ‘There’s no such thing as monsters’, as the intensity builds with the eerie instrumentation.
Decease and Desist is a banger, opening with a funky drum sound and synths overlaying. It’s a strong track to open with and definitely sets the tone for the rest of the album.
The drums are a stand out for me throughout the record. They’re prominent and fit in perfectly, combined well with the bass to create a heavy undertone throughout the album.
They’re very strong in No Apologies and provide the standout moment in Blood Storm with its relentless instrumentation.
Another standout is the guitar work, the riffs throughout are fab, particularly the high solo in When the Devil Commands, which is in complete contrast with the majority of the single. The riffs in the second half of No Apologies are really funky too, and the way it lays over the drums works really well.
The split between riffs and acoustic in I Hurt You is so cool, especially as Wednesday’s vocals match it perfectly. I do wish there was a bit more of this in the album.
Many gothic rock albums overuse the synths, but this is not the case with Mid Death Crisis and that’s a good thing as it’s definitely not needed. We do have some good synths in the opening interlude and In Misery, where they enhance the sound and even provide a bit of a breath of fresh air so to say.
Lyrically the record is fun, leaning into the devil and horror, which isn’t surprising from the Duke of Spook, but lines like “you in a casket, that sounds fantastic to me” from Rotting Away are really cool, delivered in a bit of a stop-start way to emphasise the rhyming. The choruses are quite repetitive lyrically but I think it works as it provides a good hook for crowds to scream back.
Decapitation is one of my favourite songs from Wednesday 13. The lyrics are fab, talking about wanting to decapitate someone and burn their remains with kerosene.
It sounds morbid but the delivery is genius, it sounds so casual as if it’s someone talking about what they had for tea and even includes some light-hearted gang vocals in the background. Definitely my cup of tea as I often find myself casually talking about the more gruesome things in life as if they’re everyday small talk. It’s a really good song that stands out lyrically and musically as it’s one of the more brutal instrumentations on the album.
Xanaxtasy talks about mental health and wanting it to go away with drugs, and is written so well.
Wednesday 13 just keeps getting better and better. I didn’t think it was possible after Horrifier in 2022, but I am glad to be proved wrong as Mid Death Crisis is fantastic.
