Arsenic Addiction
An Undertaker’s Lament
Self-Released
Street: 09.04
Arsenic Addiction = Crisis + Lacuna Coil + Otep
Salt Lake’s Arsenic Addiction have returned from their well-received debut EP Requiem of the Fallen to offer a follow-up of a more expansive, more lavishly produced and finer tuned full-length with An Undertaker’s Lament. The new offering is a sordid vision of brilliantly baroque gothic keyboard/piano work combined with vocal crooning/screeching/growling from singer Lady Arsenic and well-written heavy-to-melodic, lead-driven guitarwork. Without question, having two guitarists (lead and rhythm) solidifies and thickens the sound that Arsenic Addiction are looking to create. An Undertaker’s Lament is much more concept-based than their EP was—listening to the full package as opposed to just spinning a random song welcomes the preferred result. It is mournfully violent metal that has the chameleon-like ability to interest fans of different genres. Among the plethora of female-fronted modern metal bands these days, Arsenic Addiction can hold their own. Arsenic may be a stronger and heavier metal dosage than a good hunk of the popular female-fronted acts, but it’s well worth the uncomfortable poison it delivers.