July 2026 - Feature Release - The Fallen Edition
OK, high summer is here and it is my turn this month to nominate the feature for the Fallen. I have been working on a couple of projects of my own and must admit that I have given zero thought to features over the last month, but I have been mainlining this album all day today whilst doing some construction work outside and as we have inexplicably never featured these trad doom legends before, I have no hesitation in nominating Saint Vitus' 1995 album "Die Healing" for the Fallen feature for July. Enjoy, let us know what you think, etc...
https://metal.academy/releases/1947
I really like "Die Healing" Sonny. 1986's "Born Too Late" is my favourite Saint Vitus album, followed by the debut but this one is pretty close to both of them in third place. I'd go with four stars for it personally.
Surprisingly I hadn't reviewed this previously, so here are my thoughts:
1995 saw the release of Saint Vitus' seventh full-length album, "Die Healing" and marked the return of original vocalist Scott Reagers to the fold. It followed what is widely considered the band's weakest album, 1992's "C.O.D." which, following the departure of Wino, had featured Count Raven's Chritus on vocals. Now, as much as I love Wino's grizzled vocals, I think Reager's more eccentric style actually better captures the soul of Saint Vitus, so his return was well-timed and he is on fine form here. "Die Healing" was intended to be the band's swansong (although that notion has consequently been proven premature) and it seemed apt for them to end as they began with Reagers behind the mic.
Kicking off with one of the band's best tracks, "Dark World", Die Healing immediately exorcises the ghost of "C.O.D.'s" mediocrity and points towards a band intent on going out in style. Dave Chandler has an ear for simple but effective doom metal riffs and he sounds unlike anyone else with an instantly recognisable and unmistakeable guitar tone that many have tried and failed to adequately reproduce. There is a certain rawness to the best Saint Vitus material, derived from their early days touring with hardcore punk bands, that makes them sound like the sort of band who have just rolled up in a rattling old Transit van, unloaded their own battered gear, plugged it in and just started playing. Now while I am certain that is far from the truth, it doesn't alter the fact that when they are at their best that is exactly how they sound and personally I love that about them.
The tempo here is generally pretty slow, although they sometimes switch it up a little to provide contrast. "Let the End Begin", for example, is one of the album's most sluggish tracks, but contains an uptempo mid-section where Chandler lets rip with a much more energetic riff and guitar solo before reverting back to the creeping grind of the opening section. In fact the guitar solos are generally pretty shred-like with DC going fret-crazy and teetering on the edge of feedback, almost Hendrix-like at times, as on "Trail of Pestilence" for example. The band are also unafraid to lampoon themselves and the wider doom ethos a little bit, with "The Sloth" telling an apocalyptic tale of a marauding Kaiju-like sloth creature slowly laying waste to all around it like a slow-motion Godzilla.
Saint Vitus are unquestionably my favourite of the very early doom metal bands and whilst Trouble, Pentagram et al have their moments for sure, I think SV are the most consistent, C.O.D. aside. Whether it is Reagers or Wino on vocals they just encapsulate that filthy, grizzled aesthetic that so typifies the earliest trad doom scene and which lends them an air of authenticity that feels like they could turn up to play at your local pub on any given night. Great band, great album check it out if you haven't already.
4.5/5
I really like "Die Healing" Sonny. 1986's "Born Too Late" is my favourite Saint Vitus album, followed by the debut but this one is pretty close to both of them in third place. I'd go with four stars for it personally.
My top 5 SV albums:
1. Mournful Cries (1988)
2. Saint Vitus (1984)
3. V (1990)
4. Die Healing (1995)
5. Born Too Late (1986)