Band:	Shadows
Album:	Out For Blood
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	May 2023

01. Nightstalker
02. The Ripper
03. Sacrifice
04. Dream Paralysis
05. Into The Nightmare
06. Forgotten Rites
07. Out For Blood
08. Maniac
09. Fullmoon
10. Alissa

A heavy metal album released by a label known for being the home of far out black and death metal bands? What did Sentient Ruin Laboratories see in Shadows in order to place them next to their extreme metal signings?

Looking at that frighteningly beautiful cover art and listening to this spooky-hooky music, the answer is obvious: this is Ghost writing an album that loves the drama of Alice Cooper, throws sleek, KISS-styled hooks, embraces the mysticism of Blue Öyster Cult, and goes to sleep with King Diamond’s Abigail on the turntable.

Shadows introduced themselves in 2021 with the EP Into The Nightmare, and the songs featured on it are also included in this debut album. Well, I couldn’t be happier; "The Ripper" is a tribute to Judas Priest, riffs-wise, title-wise, and catchiness-wise, “Into The Nightmare” has these ghostly chants in the chorus that will haunt your nights, and "Forgotten Rites" bears the blackened twist that Bewitcher are known for with some very cool soloing and guitar licks. All these tracks are better mixed here, both the instruments and the vocals. The new songs are equally splendid, and maybe a tad more commercial and accessible, especially in the vocal delivery.

The album has a haunting quality, and it is all very palpable from the first seconds of the opening track, “Nightstalker”. The wind is blowing, the crows are cawing, an acoustic guitar is strumming a creepy-ish melody before a blood-pumping riff lights up the sky. Throughout the album, the shadowy synths are enhancing the atmosphere by providing extra volume, depth, and darkness. There are driving rhythms, compelling riffs and a whole lot of tasty lead guitar work. And, although the newer tracks, such as “Sacrifice”, “Maniac”, and “Alissa”, are not as rough-sounding as the songs from the EP, they do bear the same addictiveness.

Out For Blood is an album of nightmarish stories, and John Shades (the pseudonym of Cristian Silva from the band Apostasy) has masterminded a gloomy, cinematic, and thrilling piece of music that gives you both the heebie-jeebies, and the opportunity to practice your air-guitar talent. If you find Ghost to be too poppy, or if you’ve never been able to enjoy King Diamond due to the King’s vocal style, this Chilean will give you the chills you need.

“Under the full moon it’s bright
The shining blade of my knife
To play the theatre of nightmares
My fave game is to fright”