Description

2022 press. Double album on transparent black vinyls with gatefold cover

Uncle Acid are one of the most popular bands in the whole of the Doom Metal and Stoner Rock scene, and for good reason. They have an ear for melody not held by many of their peers and their panache for writing video nasty inspired lyrics is second to none. However, there is a catch – while they may be one of the most reliable and downright enjoyable doom bands perhaps ever, like any band that can be referred to as reliable, they’ve got a sound that, for the most part, they firmly stick to. As a result, this album could be seen, perhaps unkindly, as somewhat predictable. Indeed, the band don’t do any drastically unexpected things on this album. Basically, if you’ve ever heard Uncle Acid before, you’ll know what to expect from The Night Creeper. Is this really a bad thing though? 2013’s Mind Control suffered from being far too inconsistent – while the album’s straight-forward rockers were all entirely up to scratch, the second half of the album, which featured a handful of more experimental songs, largely felt flat of expectations. It’s clear that Uncle Acid are at their very best when they’re doing exactly what you’d expect them to – catchy, riff based pop-doom. In this way, The Night Creeper very much supplies the goods. In fact, it features some of the band’s best material in a long time, if not ever. 2011’s Blood Lust is widely regarded as the group’s master work and while overall this album doesn’t quite equal that record’s lofty heights, The Night Creeper’s steadfast reliability does give it a clear edge over Mind Control’s sporadic excellence. In fact, The Night Creeper is something of a tour-de-force in catchy, infectious doom metal. The petulant strut of Inside is a guaranteed earworm and the hook laden Melody Land is perhaps the best song they’ve produced in a long time. The ceaseless forward momentum of ‘usher Man makes sure that you won’t be forgetting the song any time soon and the album opener, Waiting For Blood, leaves the listener in no doubt as to what to expect with the rest of the record. Granted, The Night Creeper is no great revelation. It doesn’t have surprises waiting around every corner and it doesn’t make you gasp with surprise during every other song. None of that matters though, because The Night Creeper has the ability to make you grin – a lot. It’s exactly the album that every Uncle Acid fan – myself included – wants from the band and for those who enjoy the group’s distinctive sound, this record is very enjoyable. Uncle Acid are a group who do what they do better than almost everyone else. If this album had been the sort of record that contained auditory surprises around every corner, it probably wouldn’t be half as good an album as it actually is. Newcomers to the band would do just as well to start here as anywhere else in their four album discography. While Blood Lust arguably remains their definitive statement of intent (with the privately pressed Vol. 1 remaining an underrated gem), The Night Creeper is a very worthy addition to a propulsive discography.

Track list:
1. Waiting For Blood
2. Murder Nights
3. Downtown
4. Pusher Man
5. Yellow Moon
6. Melody Lane
7. The Night Creeper
8. Inside
9. Slow Death