Album Review: Scorpion Child – Acid Roulette (Nuclear Blast)

It’s been 3 years since the debut album of the psychedelic rock and metal mashup, Scorpion Child. Their self-titled album was an absolute banger, dirty, sleezy & a swagger not expected from a band in its infancy.

Acid Roulette begins with , She Sings, I Kill. It’s a fine opener that spits and snarls hard rocking riffs. It’s fast with plenty of bite even if it’s not the most inspired the band can be. That quickly rectifies itself with the fantastic Reaper’s Danse, one of the best songs the band has put together. Foot poundingly catchy with an incredible chorus that just begs to be sung loudly, a blistering guitar solo just adds the cherry on top.

Many bands struggle to follow up a well-received debut but Scorpion Child are having no such difficulties. Their hard rocking patter is so pleasing to the ear but they are more than a one trick band as evident with the title track, Acid Roulette. A drug-induced trip that drips it’s way through your self-conscious leaving you blurry eyed but better for it.

Seance serves as an interlude of sorts, coming around the halfway point & lasting just over a minute. It’s a recording of people chanting at a seance & is surprisingly unsettling! It works well as an intro to Twilight Coven, a vocally powerful song that would be standard stuff if it wasn’t for the chorus. I could listen to the vocals all day, it’s fantastic.

Scorpion Child like to vary things up but it doesn’t always work & Survives is a good example of that. The opening of just vocals and piano is jarring. After about a minute of this it suddenly drops a heavy as hell drum beat & seems to be about to take off before slowing it right back again. It’s a real pity because when it does up the game near the end, it’s pretty fantastic.

The rest of the album is a solid & impressive effort with Moon Tension in particular standing out. That swagger that was often evident in the first album returns with a vengeance here. It’s a song to move your body too.

Unfortunately the album ends on a so-so note, Addictions…the longest song on the album starts well enough but the more it goes on the more average it becomes. It’s got great rhythm but doesn’t stand out from the rest of the album.

Scorpion Child’s second album bears a lot of similarities to their first. Solid throughout with a smattering of great songs but a few too many that are filler.

Full Track List:

1. She Sings, I Kill
2. Reaper’s Danse
3. My Woman In Black
4. Acid Roulette
5. Winter Side Of Deranged
6. Séance
7. Twilight Coven
8. Survives
9. Blind Man’s Shine
10. Moon Tension
11. Tower Grove
12. I Might Be Your Man
13. Addictions