Artist: Murder By Death
Album: In Boca Al Lupo 
Label: East West
Tracks: 12
Length: 47:30
Review by: Luke Kruse

Murder by Death is an act that thrives on theatrics.   Their brand of dark, apocalyptic indie rock- complete with a hard-rocking cellist- turned some heads with their 2003 concept album Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them. While I enjoyed that album, I approached Murder by Death’s new effort, In Boca al Lupo, with cautious intrigue.  The band has always struck me as having unlimited potential, and I was hoping that promise would translate into a jaw-dropping album.  While they have not quite delivered fully on that potential on In Boca al Lupo, Murder by Death has certainly come through with an album of well-crafted -and sometimes stunning- songs.   Drawing their influences from a wide palette including Tom Waits (“Dead Men and Sinners”) to Johnny Cash (“Sometimes the Line Walks You”) to Cursive (“Boy Decide”), the album is certainly not lacking in variety.   While this can sometimes come at the expense of overall cohesiveness, that is not the case here, as the album feels like an album.

Though In Boca al Lupo is not a concept album, there are common themes throughout the album – sin, regret, guilt, death, and punishment.  Each song stands as a vignette and singer Adam Turla’s lyrics are not necessarily from the first-person; rather, they are told from the perspective of a cast of strikingly well-developed blue-collar characters.  While the subject matter is undeniably dark, there is a clear morality present in which dark deeds do not go unpunished and forgiveness is possible.  The first track calls out a spoiled rich kid with the lyrics, “You’re pissin’ into the wind / squandering the life you were given / now what will you do?”   The album comes full circle final on its track, “The Devil Drives.  The song features the repeating lyric “There’s still time to start again,” which provides a hope for renewal to that aforementioned rich kid, as well as the entire cast of unsavory characters found on the album’s tracks.

A band that is willing to take risks musically and lyrically, as Murder By Death does on this album, should be applauded.  While not flawless, the album never loses its forward momentum.  Those bored by album after album of paint-by-numbers indie rock about heartbreak will love what In Boca al Lupo to offer.

Note: While the music and lyrical content on this album is top-notch, you better have a good pair of speakers to be able to enjoy this album.  While most albums today are compressed for volume consistency, In Boca al Lupo seems to be compressed more than any I’ve ever heard on some tracks.  As a result, the album “clips” when played on average speakers (i.e. – my car), but sounds fine on my home stereo system.