Church of Misery

Master of Brutality (Metal Blade)
The Second Coming (Metal Blade)

In 2001, Southern Lord Records pressed proper Church of Misery debut Master of Brutality, which fast became an out-of-print commodity. Sophomore wing-spreader The Second Coming never saw an American release. Both boast rebirth, a revelatory sonic upgrade bestowed on the former’s Sabbath-arted introduction to the Japanese blues atomizer’s serial killer songs. Yoshiakki Negishi’s black-tar vocals coat eight-minute doom rider “Killifornia (Ed Kemper),” but quintessential frontman Hideki Fukasawa on Second Coming erupts greatest hits “I, Motherfucker (Ted Bundy)” and “Filth Bitch Boogie (Aileen Wournos).” Each LP nestles key covers, Blue Öyster Cult’s “Cities on Flame” and a murderous Cactus spike on Second Coming, and both stretch out epic bonus tracks, notably Master‘s 17-minute live “Lucifer Rising.” (Both) ****

This article appears in August 10 • 2012.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.