Church Of Misery – Born Under A Mad Sign

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · Published August 27, 2024 · Updated August 28, 2024

Church Of Misery formed in 1995 by bassist and originator Tatsu Mikami. They are from Tokyo, Japan and play heavy stoner doom metal. Throughout the years, the band has gone through massive lineup changes. The current roster includes: Tatsu Mikami on bass , Kazuhiro Asaeda on vocals, Fumiya Hattori on guitars, and Toshiaki Umemura on drums. Born Under A Mad Sign is their seventh full length recording. The band has a slue of EPS, singles, live recordings, and compilations available also. They are pioneers of heavy psychedelic doom carrying the torch of Black Sabbath and are proprietors of, the almighty riff. Church Of Misery are unique and all of their songs are about different serial killers. Born Under A Mad Sign was released on June 16th, 2023 on Rise Above Records. It contains seven songs around 56 minutes long.

The first song on Born Under A Mad Sign is called “Beltway Sniper (John Allen Muhammad).” The track begins with a recording of the news report talking about the killings which happened near Washington DC in Maryland. It’s a great song with a nice and heavy sludge riff that permeates the soul. Kazuhiro Asaeda delivers a raspy and powerful vocal delivery which fits the ferocity of the music nicely. He sang on Church Of Misery’s first album 2001’s Master Of Brutality. Asaeda is also a current member of Sonic Flower, along with drummer Toshiaki Umemura. The song has a bluesy feel about it especially when it transitions at the midpoint with the guitars playing off each other when the rest of the music pauses momentarily. The guitar leads are great when the riff kicks back in. The song ends with a devastating sludge pounding and fades into some psychedelic guitar leads that flow right into the next song. “Most Evil (Fritz Harmann)” begins with a pile driving riff that will shake any foundation. It’s heavy doom metal at its finest! The song is inspired by the German serial killer whose victims were boys and young men. The album cover of Born Under A Mad Sign depicts Fritz Harmann. The song changes up a bit around the six and a half minute point and ups the tempo just slightly before the guitar lead kicks in. Guitarist Fumiya Hattori, is in Japan’s premier stoner rock band Eternal Elysium also. His playing is excellent throughout this recording. The Geezer inspired bass lines (courtesy of Tatsu Mikami) underneath the leads are fantastic too. “Most Evil” is the longest cut on the album, clocking in at just under ten minutes.

Track three is called “Freeway Madness Boogie (Randy Kraft).” It’s a more up tempo rocker of a song with slick drum fills and distorted bass break outs. The guitar leads are infectious on this one too. The song has a good rocking groove to it all the way through. The next song is called “Murder Castle Blues (H.H. Holmes).” It starts with bass and drums and has some nice bluesy clean guitars join in. The riff then crushes in all heavy as one would expect from Church Of Misery. At around the five minute and fifteen second mark the song displays some cool accents and picks up the pace a bit. It proceeds to deliver some punishing grooves to finish it off. The next track is a cover song from Haystacks Balboa’s 1970 debut, titled “Spoiler.” It has a nice acid rock sound with layers of hammond organ drenched in the main riffs. The song fits the vibe of this record perfectly.

“Come And Get Me Sucker (David Koresh)” starts with the bass and drums and really carries the song forward. The guitars accent and then everything kicks in with a righteous riff. It’s the most catchy song on the record for sure. The seventh and final song on Born Under A Mad Sign is called “Butcher Baker (Robert Hansen).” It has a cool doomy vibe throughout. The ending breaks with some clean guitars and samples and goes into a heavy rocking rhythm with guitar leads. The song trudges back with another thick riff and vocals to bring it to a close. Church Of Misery really knows how to formulate classic, doom laden, riff rock. Credit should be given to bassist extraordinaire, Tatsu Mikami for being able to keep this band going for all these years. They continue to devastate and deliver uncompromising music, nearly thirty years in existence.

Church Of Misery has been on my radar since the early 2000’s. The record that totally sold me was 2009’s Houses Of The Unholy. I enjoyed the debut and 2004’s Second Coming a lot also. However, the production on Houses Of The Unholy and 2013’s Thy Kingdom Scum really accentuated their heavy sound. It has been seven years since the last record, 2016’s And Then There Were None was released, which got mixed reviews. Personally, I thought it was a little disappointing compared to the others but not a bad record at all. However, Born Under A Mad Sign is true to form and ranks high on one of my favorites from Church Of Misery. I can’t wait to hear what’s next for Tatsu and the band but I just hope to hear new material sooner than seven years next time.