File Under: Goth Punk rating: B+ tracks 1. Nosferatu 2. Candy Man 3. Hellraiser 4. These Walls 5. The Pumpkinpatch Murders 6. Reanimated 7. The Fog 8. Dying Day 9. Among The Dead 10. Myers (October 31) 11. Motel Hell 12. Motorized Homocide related links Blitzkid

Just when I thought reviewing CD's for Rockzone didn't have its perks beyond the hordes of (virtual) women, free (virtual) drugs, and piles of cold, hard, virtual cash, enter Blitzkid.

Starting out like a bat out of hell that could gobble up Meatloaf and his puny bat in one venomous bite, Blitzkid takes off with doomsday ferocity, resurrecting the feel of old Danzig and Misfit records while paying homage to current acts such as AFI and Rancid.

Sadly, this energy doesn't keep through the entire 31 minutes of Let Flowers Die. After "Nosferatu," the furious opening track promising unrelenting punk madness, "Candyman" romps through two minutes of demonic fun. Then "Hellraiser" makes a strong case to mistake it for a missing AFI B-side, but it's the next track, "Pumpkin Patch Murders" which will have you stomping and romping to all two and a half minutes of punk fury.

Next up is "These Walls," which, while it has its high points, the vocals don't sound quite right. Notes belted out with ease on other songs just miss its mark, and it's not for a raw, punk effect either. It's as if Blitzkid tried to record the entire album in a day and right about here, on track five, things start to fall apart. The loss of stamina seeps into the other musicians-the beat in the next few songs is slower, and suddenly the raucous punk band has turned into metal balladeers.

Thank the anti-god for CD players. Listen to the first five tracks, and then skip to number ten. Let Flowers Die finishes up strong with three phenomenal tunes that will make you believe in punk again.

And so, adding it up, Blitzkid has eight great tracks and four shitty ones. That means eight tracks better than the last Blink 182 album, and 7 more than Shakira. It means it's a solid album. Check it out.

Eric Myers is a Contributing Writer. Contact him at octoon@hotmail.com.