We Sing of Only Blood or Love

Dax Riggs has been delivering beautifully haunting lyrics for a long time, and there is no exception with his first solo album. In the mid-’90s Riggs fronted underground, cult-revered metal bands Acid Bath and Agents of Oblivion, and two years later fronted deadboy & the Elephantmen, whose last album We Are Night Sky received a four-star review in Rolling Stone. Riggs has now decided to retire the “deadboy” name and go solo. His Morrison-esque lyrics are still very dark and somewhat mystifying at times, singing of death, magic and dreams all with a soulful passion. Matt Sweeney (who’s worked with ’90s bands like Skunk and Chavez) produced the record, Riggs’ second release on his new label, Fat Possum. Songs like “Radiation Blues” are rock-oriented, while others, such as “The Terrors of Nightlife” and “Dog Headed Whore,” fall more on the mellow side. But the track that stands out is “Ghost Movement,” in which Riggs asks: “Do we haunt the hearts of God, my love?” Perhaps haunting the hearts of many, Riggs gives us another excellent album as well as a reason to check our closets at night.