Transylvania Stud - "Empress"
You may be familiar with Transylvania Stud, a name seen fairly often in the heavy underground community, not just for his musical stylings, but for his unwavering support of the scene. Although he's essentially a one-man operation, this powerhouse of a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist often gets a little help from his friends, enlisting some guest musicians and vocalists (some of whom you'll probably recognize). Historically, Transylvania Stud's sound has revolved primarily around the grunge, post-grunge, and heavy rock genres. In fact, he's recorded several covers of well-known grunge songs (more on that later), as well as a full-length album of original material, called White Witch, released in 2019. ("White Witch" was one of the first albums I reviewed for Screaming From the Heavy Underground)! Now, Transylvania Stud is back with his newest full-length album, Empress, released on Halloween 2024.
Let's get into it track by track...
Empress
1.) Thread
Thread was the first single released from the album, and it's a great choice; this post-grunge track is a earworm if I ever heard one, with an infectious chorus and riff that winds like an unraveling thread itself. I found myself singing along to this one many times since its release.
the lyric video for "Thread"
2.) Clover Club
Another song in the post-grunge style, Clover Club has a slight bluesy overtone. The song is made incredibly smooth by the fluidity of its movement and velvety vocals, particularly in the choruses, but Clover Club is kept heavy by the gravelly guitar.
3.) Change Your Mind
Change Your Mind was the second single released from Empress and it's another song with a killer vibe. It's primarily dreamy in tone, in spite of the defeated attitude of the lyrics, describing a very relatable situation in which one realizes there's no point in trying to sway the opinion of someone who is totally enmeshed in their outlandish way of thinking. This song also features some hypnotically percussive guitar work and some great solos as well.
4.) Praxis
Praxis is chock full of variety in its three and a half minute run time, boasting guitar the vacillate between scintillating, stomping, and barreling, as well as vocals that move from an almost punky alt-rock style to bright and soaring as the emotion intensifies.
5.) Fangs
The third and final single from the album, Fangs slows the pace a bit but continues to keep things heavy and the vocals working at full range, this time with a sensual, swinging and swaying movement.
6.) Sticks and Stones
Sticks and Stones bursts through the gate with some delicious desert rock tonality, and I'm here for it! The choruses maintain more of a heavy rock/post-grunge sound, and it works very well together.
7.) Nevermind
This song VERY pleasantly surprised me with a strong doom vibe, primarily in the verses. The choruses bring more of that trademark smoothness to the table, and interestingly, it fits in seamlessly. The vocals avoid taking on the higher, soaring register they often do, keeping it low and slow with an overtone of heavy rock and grunge...I dig it.
Final Thoughts
Three things stand out right away after listening to Empress:
- Transylvania Stud's remain as strong as ever, with their warm grunge tone and impressive range. I've compared this dude to Chris Cornell before, and I stand by that statement.
- The lyrics are very relatable, often offering up some rather sage perspectives on life situations.
- Overall, I felt Empress explores the stoner/doom genres a lot more, offering up some grittier, fuzzier guitars with some impressive nods to desert rock and doom metal.
But of course, I have more to say...
The first time I heard Transylvania Stud via his White Witch album, I was hyper-focused on the legitimate and ultra-melodic grunge style vocals, paying a lot less attention to the instrumentals. This time, I found myself consistently noticing the variety in the guitar and its impressive adaptability (not to mention solo chops). Now, I'm not a musician so I can't tell you exactly why or speak to improvements and skill levels, but I do think it's worth mentioning that I found the instrumentals to be more stand-out on Empress.
Above all, and arguably the most important thing I can say is that I can hear the effort that went into Empress, from the obvious things like the vocals, songwriting, and guitar to the smaller (but crucial) details like the mixing and artwork. It goes without saying that Empress is Transylvania Stud's most impressive and detail oriented work to date.
More About Transylvania Stud
And now for those awesome covers I mentioned earlier...I just can't talk about Transylvania Stud without mentioning those. On the Transylvania Stud Bandcamp page, you'll find several cover songs in the discography, including Danzig's How the Gods Kill, some Soundgarden and Chris Cornell tunes, and one of my personal favorites, a killer take on Dead and Bloated by Stone Temple Pilots featuring the heavy underground's own Eddy Keyes (AIWASS, LOTOC, The Endless):
Transylvania Stud is also collaborating with the band The By Gods on a project called düüm, and their first single was just released on October 23, 2024:
You can follow Transylvania Stud and listen to his music at the following links:
A massive thank you to Transylvania Stud for the promo!
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