Saint Agnes – Bloodsuckers: A Review

How would I describe Saint Agnes? Aggressive, in your face, talented. All of those and more. 

Made up of members Kitty A. Austen (vocals, guitar) Jon James Tufnell (vocals, guitar) Benjamin Chernitsky (bass), and Andy Head (drums) Bloodsuckers is their second full-length album following 2019’s Welcome to Silvertown and from listening to it regularly for over a month, it is a really good album.

The Review

From the opening chord of the title track Bloodsuckers, you know you’re going to be in for a rocking inventive musical adventure full of aggression, attitude, and a general middle finger raised at the world.

The musicianship is great throughout however I find the inventiveness of the electronic effects to be particularly enjoyable. You get little breaks, small fills here there, and everywhere and they work so well to give a broadness to each and every track.

Kitty A. Austen, the vocalist, has clearly had enough of your bullshit and this shows through every single track, there’s a lot of swearing, so kids this is a good one to learn from. However the album isn’t just about anger, there is a subtlety to tacks such as This Is Not The End, which has a lovely warm feel from the keyboard but which is sad.

The highlight for me is Outsider as it gives Kitty the chance to show her range a bit more. It’s more melodic and I’m not sure if anyone else would agree with me, but I got shades of Rammstein. Really enjoyed this one.

I also found myself drawn to This Is Not The End. After a pretty shitty few years for me, I really found this song cathartic.

One of the things that started grating with me after a while was the use of low-fi vocals, which on this album is a lot. I don’t mind a bit of low-fi every now and then, but there is a lot on this one. It isn’t enough to ruin the album, but I found I had to take the odd break when listening to the album back to back.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed the album and I think Saint Agnes could do wonderful things in the future.

Score 8/10

Track Listing

1. Bloodsuckers
2. Animal
3. I Mean Nothing To You
4. Outside
5. This Is Not The End
6. Follow You
7. I Am
8. At War With Myself
9. Middle Finger
10. Body Bag
11. Forever and Ever

Label – Spinefarm
Release – 21st July 2023

For all things Sainty Agnes, click HERE, and to purchase the album, click HERE