EDITOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to guest writer Shane Wesley (singer/bass player from Anwar Sadat) for composing this review.
Continuing in the lineage of horror-themed punk rock, Prayer Line fills the void somewhere between Misfits’ visceral onslaught and Christian Death’s noisier, goth tendencies. For “A Martyr’s Death”, Prayer Line uses 1973 cult-classic The Wicker Man (curiously remade in 2006, starring an unhinged Nicolas Cage) as its source material, in which main villain and cult leader, Lord Summerisle, quotes Walt Whitman; ruminating on the tenuous divide between humankind and Earth’s more bestial inhabitants.
This is wildly appropriate, given that the song’s mid-tempo lurch resembles more beast than man. The bass and drums pummel, guitars gnash and snarl. Above the sonic melee, it’s easy to imagine Lord Summerisle himself delivering this unholy sermon, and if this is a sign of what’s to come from Prayer Line, I’m a believer.
Prayer Line is set to play tonight at Odeon, and again on October 27th at Kaiju. Listen to “A Martyr’s Death” below via Bandcamp — the song is also streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and all other streaming platforms.
