Dax Riggs - We Sing of Only Blood or Love
Reviewed by mike
Dax Riggs isn't kidding with the title of the first record released under his own name. Darkness permeates and Riggs succumbs to the demons on his trail as the former Deadboy and the Elephantmen frontman (Blood or Love was originally intended to be a D+E album) seems to be preparing for an imminent demise. Musically, the record is all over the place, a virtual stylistic retrospective drawing from the goth-blues, punk, industrial and metal of his past. With no songs over three minutes, it's a matter of preference as to which phase of Riggs' career you prefer most, but he's at his strongest and most emotional when illuminating Junior Kimbrough riffs with menacing rhythm and polishing them off with the morbid gore of his metal roots. He may sing of only blood or love, but he plays whatever he wants — as longs as its gloomy. [www.daxriggs.com]