Spectre
Drifter/ The Black Jewel
SPECTRE is the sterling heavy metal vison of Will Spectre. Formed in 2017, the band made its recorded debut that summer with the two-song Silver Invaders / Stand Alone single on the cult Heavy Chains label, which DYING VICTIMS released on 7" vinyl later that year. SPECTREs primary influences are heavy metal and hard rock of the late 70s and early 80s, and they continued that streak with the Hard Attacks digital single in 2018. Now back with DYING VICTIMS, SPECTRE return with another short-yet-satisfying recording in the two-song Drifter. On this record, Will Spectre is joined by his heavy friends Jake Glas (Outcast/Teuton) on vocals and David Harrington-George (The Wizard/Tarot) on bass. Indeed, as the cover slyly nods to cult Japanese psychedelia surely known to the most devout trainspotters, so, too, do SPECTRE here sprinkle spices from Will Spectres other musical conjurings - namely, The Wizard, Tarot, Dracula, and Crypt Vapor. What results on the title track "Drifter" and its flipside "The Black Jewel" is pure vintage bathos and pathos, the hard rocking moodier and more mysterious yet also more immediate and, somehow, disarmingly human in its naked bravado. The A-side gets the chest thumping and fists shaking, while the B-side is a haunting vision in velet: simple, sure, but also sublime. What dream singles are made of!