Just in time for Halloween comes an unexpected but intriguing project from Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider. You may recall that Snider made his official foray into the world of horror – no, I'm not talking about Twisted Sister – back in 1998 with his cult film Strangeland. The soundtrack to the film, featuring the likes of Megadeth, Pantera and Snider, even worked its way onto the Billboard charts. This time, Snider's goals are much more ambitious.
Van Helsing's Curse bridges progressive metal, classical music and chamber singing by incorporating the works of everyone from Igor Stravinsky to Mike Oldfield to Black Sabbath. But Van Helsing's Curse is not a rock group. Rather, it's a rock orchestra that includes a five-member rock band, a six-piece string section and a six-person choir that only sings in Latin. There are no lead vocals on Oculus Infernum; only the choir and Snider's creepy Vincent Price-inspired narration move this story of good and evil along. For example, "Tubular Hell" includes melodic bits of Oldfield's "Tubular Bells, original sections and themes from Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and the traditional "Dies Irae." "Revenge" begins with Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" and "Firebird Suite" before segueing to Niccolo Paganini's "24th Caprice." And "Let the Pain Begin" borrows freely from Sabbath's "Black Sabbath."
Oculus Infernum (Latin for "eye of hell") tells the story of an evil entity that descends upon a town and kills all the adults. A now-orphaned boy seeks retribution and teams with an old man who is a direct descendant of vampire hunter Van Helsing (who originally appeared in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula) to battle the enemy. Snider dreamed up this plot himself, and he eventually hopes to tour the country every October with musicians outfitted in bizarre Marilyn Manson-meets-Edward Scissorhands garb. Think Trans-Siberian Orchestra – only for Halloween. Ambition sometimes knows no boundaries.
Bombastic and thrilling here, dark and foreboding there, Oculus Infernum is nevertheless a stunning piece of work that gets dragged down by the narration and grows weary from its reliance on the Latin tongue. But since those elements are included, more plot details in the liner notes would have been helpful. Information about the pieces of music Snider incorporates into these songs, though, proves beneficial – particularly for listeners looking to draw connections between disparate musical genres. Even though Oculus Infernum was created as a Halloween soundtrack, this rousing record merits year-round play and establishes Snider as a musician much worthier of praise than "We're Not Gonna Take It" indicates.
Track Listing
1. Patience
2. Tubular Hell
3. All Fall Down
4. Let Me Prey
5. The Child
6. The Tortured Soul
7. Revenge
8. War
9. Let The Pain Begin
10. The Curse
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