St. Vitus — C.O.D.
To start with yes, it is a bit of a departure from the St. Vitus that has Wino as vocalist. Didn’t Black Sabbath sound different with Ronnie James Dio? Or for that matter Rainbow with Joe Lynn turner? Of course there’s no denying it. The vocals just seem a bit off, even if they had a bit more range would it help? Probably not, because there is just a real lack of emotion conveyed here. C.O.D. is a good St. Vitus album but it never really builds to the awesomely heaviness of other releases. Yet it can’t be blamed on the vocalist solely, production is a bit too clean, drums sound very dry, bass is somewhat hidden; what saves this is Dave Chandler’s guitar. Ever the dirty, distorted, reverbed sound, even when it’s a clean production!
However, there are some intense moments here. “Shadow of a Skeleton” is rife with hypnotic rhythms, a beautiful mid song time change and one insane guitar solo. “Plague of Man” also drips with riffs; it reminds you why exactly St. Vitus is the epitome of doom metal. So slow and heavy in sound, but depressive and bleak in mood. “Get Away” graces us with a lovely slow and melodic intro that builds with the dynamic drumming of Armando Acosta. There’s head banging infectious riffs on “Hallow’s Victim” and reverb madness on “Bela”.
Putting all this aside, C.O.D. comes across as “almost” a good St. Vitus record. Yes the riffs are there, Acosta’s drumming is wonderful, if not criminally over produced and the songs are solid. Let’s face it there’s better music in a not so good St. Vitus song than most other doom metal bands can ever hope to achieve on their best day.