Shrugging off increasingly malignant individualist attitudes and the endless stream of doomsaying that’d kicked off this current decade Olympia, Washington & Portland, Oregon-based traditional heavy metal/hard rock quartet CHRISTIAN MISTRESS seek a more universalist constant within the expanse of their fourth full-length album. Tasking the listener with seeing themselves as more than a cowed passenger within the miraculous spawn of existence ‘Children of the Earth‘ repeatedly insists that rejection of chaos and despair will empower folks with purpose, that participation in the greater good is worthy despite the cold reality of impermanence. There is yet beauty to create, joy to feel, stories to tell and at this low point for free will among modern man it takes a great deal of strength to not only acknowledge this but to stoke it in others. Restating the dignity of the outspoken and the storyteller alike is the overarching goal of this tuneful, bopping heavy-rocking heavy metal album as an ideal foil for expressing not only what has been but what could beyond the torsion of greed and power games.

Christian Mistress formed circa 2008 featuring folks who’d been involved in local black, thrash, heavy metal and punk scenery who were inspired to start a good auld heavy metal band. It wasn’t long before they’d found a righteous knack, a soul-filled sound that roused somewhere between post-flower power comedown of the early 70’s and the early days of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Their first demo (‘Christian Mistress‘, 2009) hand’t gone unnoticed at the time per a hot streak of dual guitar action… and their own bluesy, heavy rocking movement was a plus beside vocalist Christine Davis‘ smokey register. They made good on that sound soon after via a brilliant debut LP (‘Agony & Opium‘, 2010) to widespread praise. I’d always appreciated the rougher edges of this era of the group where it all felt live in studio, never too perfect or practiced per a few scribbly lead guitar hits on the demo and whatnot; A mix of early 70’s dramatic chill and late 70’s heavy psych bumpin’ movement made for a reasonable palette to insert NWOBHM inspired lead guitar work into, and this was the signature that’d gotten them noticed as Relapse Records swooped in for their next two records. The honest presentation amidst the vocalist’s gloomier fixation and easy roll of that debut sits well next to ‘Children of the Earth‘ today but with less of the Joplin-esque growl and late 70’s/early 80’s slight vibrato applied to Davis‘ phrasing. — The best primer for what they’re doing today is where they’d started back in the late 2000’s.

In the realm of occult rock, doom-rock, and 70’s heavy metal spiritualism ‘Possession‘ (2012) managed to be one of few memorable records of that time period where bands like Castle began to strike similar gold, Sabbath Assembly were still reviving the spirit of a dead apocalyptic cult, and various bands in that general category (Blood Ceremony, Jex Thoth, et al.) were at their peak of public interest. I’d been obsessed with Occultation‘s debut and ‘Blacklands‘ for most of that year but Christian Mistress were dabbling in a bit of everything on that second record and the doomed stroke of the band worked in a Witchfinder General kind of way per my own tastes. That was the extent of the original quartet’s development as guitarist Tim Diedrich was brought in to accompany Oscar Sparbel and the band’s sound leaned into easier-going, dual guitar writ heavy rock inspired stuff, something like pre-1979 heavy metal in general on their third LP (‘To Your Death‘, 2015). If you’re not familiar with that album it’ll be your best bet in terms of finding precedence for the step of ‘Children of the Earth‘; When the band split in 2016 some members formed the somewhat similar Quayde LaHüe nearby, Storey put work into a few awesome records from Vision Master and Lords of Quarmall, Diedrich put out a couple of records with Power Castle whose discography I’d spent a solid three hour side-track with while catching up with Christian Mistress‘ history and so forth.

We all knew what Christian Mistress sounded like back then and even though it’s been ten years it’d be fair to state up front that ‘Children of the Earth‘ picks up where the Thin Lizzy-leveled ease and early Maiden punk anthemic scratch of ‘To Your Death‘ left off, this time with Diedrich returning on guitars and bassist Jonny Wulf pulling double duty on second guitar. A quick roll through their prior discography might help to reacclimate into their realm but as they’ve stated in the press materials this album “draws the line” between past and present by way of the relationship between their guitar driven sound and its parity with the vocals and melodies they’ve created together. The result is that Davis‘ voice acts as a natural lead for the duration of the full listen, taking the lead with often fairly detailed melodic ideas and tasking the whole of the quartet to acting together to create more immediately connective pieces. The performative excess of early 80’s heavy metal isn’t lost upon ’em but for this record you’re getting every lyric, every solo, and every riff loud and clear and in service to their songcraft.

“I want to, live like it matters” — As is the case with all of the best in rock music the imperfect but evocative, impassioned vocals from Davis tell us one story at a time, express a lyrical beat or thought which rings more profound over time. Side A clearly has something to say, peppering in lines like “nothing seems to matter unless, we’re selling it for you” (“Voiceless”) and the placement of “I reject the chaos of despair” in context of “Demons Night” [to me] reflect an outpouring in response to the most detestable aspects of modern day life. I can only paraphrase what the lyrics on this album go to say but I don’t know if I’ll hear a more honest, earnest set of inspirational and realistic sentiments lined up in such an infectious way this year; The string of songs that run through the first half of ‘Children of the Earth‘ aren’t so stuffed with dueling lead guitars or doom (at all) but the twanging guitar harmonies on “Voiceless” and the kinda Rainbow-ready revelry of the leads that strike throughout “Love of the World” do a fine job of conveying the attitude and the spirit of the record as it only just begins to crest at its mid-point.

Over on Side B we find some of my favorite guitar work, something more clearly 80’s almost Schenker/UFO feeling in its movements per the anthemic step of “Mythmaker“, which also features some of the best lyric sentiment on the album for my own taste. Butted up against the rousing stamp of “Death Blade” this is the hot spot on the record as far as I’m concerned. Though the final two songs on ‘Children of the Earth‘ are probably the most crucial for getting to the meat of Christian Mistress‘ statement as a whole they’re also somewhat dreary as we step into “Lake of Memory” which’d been the catalyst for this album, a thought inspired by an ancient grave marker encouraging the dead to announce themselves as children of the Earth as they navigated their descent into the judgement of the netherworld, taking notes on the interconnectedness found in the most lasting sentiments of human history.

Of course presentation matters and though I’m not qualified to suggest more than warmth and a bevvy of oaken heavy rock guitar tones and twangs the aesthetic of ‘Children of the Earth‘ was instantly appealing and familiar as the ink painting used for the cover artwork (via Lauren O’Conner) uses the image from the band’s 2007 7″ single “Mother of Mercy / The Hereafter” atop a reflecting pool. I’d appreciated the image as an album cover as well as its intended signet of connectivity between folks and their small place within in the vastness of the universe. This image paired with the sentiment that people aren’t cattle to be milled, engineered into social servitude and removed from their communal nature speaks loud and clear in an inspiring stance. If you are a fan of heavy rock and don’t know jack about Christian Mistress I don’t doubt you’ll get what is up here and be able to read the sincerity of their return, longtime fans should similarly have no trouble acclimating to the melody driven muse and the emotional gamut which ‘Children of the Earth‘ wheels through, though I wouldn’t ride into their coven expecting ‘Possession‘ part II so much as a meaningful return beyond ‘To Your Death‘. A high recommendation.

---