It is the harvest season and as the pumpkins and apples are ripe for picking, evil lurks around the corner. Halloween is near. As our society dives into the horror and macabre with laughter, celebration, and the color of the leaves fade, people will begin to turn on the orange lights and decorate their lawns. All of this seasonal fun would not be complete without a soundtrack playing somewhere in the background...I have just the thing for you this year.

Remember the band Twisted Sister and the maniacal lead singer Dee Snider? Well, he's baaack. On Van Helsing's Curse-Oculus Infernum he sounds like the Godfather of shock rock Alice Cooper as he narrates his rock opera, which seems as though it could become a stage play or TV special if he wanted to be.

I was wary at first of this CD and honestly believed that it was not going to float my boat. At the prompting of my friends at Chipster PR, I had a copy sent anyway. I am glad that I checked it out. This is a great album in concept and sound. Snider and his host of outstanding musicians, singers, and various creep night voices take you through a bone chilling story about the classic scenario of evil vs. good, ever reminding us in the end that although good can win over evil, evil always returns. Snider's voice is perfect for this kind of recording and the music is driving hard metal-progressive orchestral rock 'n' roll that will surely catch many ears that enjoy this type of music and especially those out trick or treating for their candy this year. Grab your speakers and put them on the lawn or on your porch and crank this up, although if you want the kiddies to come to your house to grab all the candy you bought you may not want to play this, its scary stuff. Ha! Ha! Ha!

P.S. Listen for the Black Sabbath riffs.

1. Patience (Introduction)
2. Tubular Hell
3. All Fall Down
4. Let Me Prey
5. The Child
6. The Tortured Soul
7. Revenge
8. War
9. Let The Pain
10. The Curse

The Cast:
Dee Snider: Narration
Joe Franco: Drums & Sound Design
Jake Richards: Guitars & Keyboards
Mark Wood: Lead Violin & String Ensembles
Greg Smith: Bass
Schuyler Deale: Bass
Nick Cipriano: Keyboards & Background Vocals
Jane Mangini: Piano
Sophia Ramos: Vocals
Cheryl Smith: Background Vocals
Michael Lanning: Background Vocals
Tommy Farise: Background
Dana Franco: Children's Vocals
Brian Grosz: Voice of the Entity
Bob Brockman: Trumpet
Kevin Osborne: Trombone, Baritone Trombone
Paul Riggio: French Horn
Barbara Hill: French Horn