Creeper - Eternity, In Your Arms (2017)

The much-anticipated full-length debut from the English goth-punk collective, Eternity, in Your Arms arrives after a three-year build-up that saw Creeper honing their Alkaline Trio-meets-the Damned blend of glam rock and post-hardcore-kissed horror-punk in sweaty halls and drink ticket-strewn green rooms. While all of the Misfits, A-Trio, and AFI comparisons are apt, what Creeper has that those giants of bar-chord brooding lack is a keen sense for the pageantry of rock & roll, and it's that propensity for almost Meat Loaf-worthy grandeur that makes Eternity, in Your Arms so consistently compelling. It's a world where pit-worthy, minor-chord verses almost always yield fist-pumping, arms-around-your-mates choruses, and that the proceedings are shepherded by a pair of charismatic vocalists (frontman Will Gould and keyboardist/backing vocalist Hannah Greenwood), makes things all the more spellbinding. With Eternity, in Your Arms, Creeper have truly proven themselves masters of the dark arts, as they've managed to create something as genuinely inspired as it is stylistically derivative. -- James Christopher Monger