"Presenting new sounds from the darkness"...welcome to the mind of Boogeyman! This Arizona three piece have a wonderful world of spooks, darkness, death and demons to show you with this eleven track self titled full length debut album. Predominantly horrorpunk in nature but incorporating many elements from other genres too. You will find that this is not your average bog standard debut album... it is a well thought out horror story that has a glossy illustrated 49 page storybook called 'The Devils Song' to accompany it!
The band originally wanted to (and succeeded) in creating their very own horror story universe. The lyrics and music were written first and are about a young man named Ezekiel who feels a sinister presence he calls The Phantom. After an altercation at Ezekiel's Grandfathers funeral The Phantom sets to plunge the world into turmoil. Ezekiel discovers he can see again but all he can see is death and destruction...each song telling his tale as it unfolds. Friend of the band Ed Kearns wrote the full story of "The Devils Song" and it was illustrated by Monster Mark Kosobucki they did this off the back of these eleven songs that make up Boogeyman.
"Eulogy" is the instrumental track that opens the album, with "Mourning Light" being our introduction to the unfortunate protagonist, Ezekiel, and the start of his macabre journey. Combining lively pop punk sounds with classic rock riffs and some humorous yet fitting organ and piano segments everything about Boogeyman screams fun! It has a dark heart and a fierce story to tell but goes about it in such an exciting way it is hard not to sing along. As the album progresses a heavier feel creeps in as the story gets darker. From track 5 "The Dead are Here" a change is occurring and the pop punk element becomes an undertone to make way for some familiar and classic horrorpunk "woahs" and "ohs" with a nostalgic early AFI vibe. I get a hint of some hardcore punk seeping in by the final quarter with tracks 8 "Consumed" and 9 "The Candle of Six Days" being particular favorites of mine.
Boogeyman sounds familiar yet fresh and darkly humorous. Vocalist/pianist Jason Payne has a really upbeat bright style to his singing yet his shouts and cries carry some great opposing emotion. Sibling duo Eric and Ryan Zellmer covering the drums, guitar and bass show real talent and they sound bigger than the three piece that they are. The recording sounds as clear and bright as the songs themselves and everything is well balanced. Boogeyman was originally independently released in April 2021 but was re-released in Europe through Deadly Distribution and ELB-Power Records in June 2022.
Both Boogeyman and "The Devils Song" are available through Boogeymans' bandcamp and social media pages.
