It’s easy to tell where Church of Misery finds their influence. Though the band’s lyrics may obsess with well-known serial killers and mass murderers, the band have an early Black Sabbath sound mixed with psychedelic rock. Church of Misery’s latest album And Then There Were None is a real rocker of stoner and doom metal that I found myself not being able to get enough of.

The album begins The Hell Benders, dealing with the murderous family from Kansas during the 1870s, known in the history books as “The Bloody Benders.” It’s a slower start to the album, busting out a big hefty doom sound right from the start with trippy style rock leads to give it that well-polished stoner doom finish. A song about Harold Shipman, entitled Doctor Death, is definitely a more upbeat track, heavy at heart, with guitars that strike down hard like a mallet, dishing out catchy riff after catchy riff.

Confessions of An Embittered Soul is another stand out tune on this dark and doomy trip through murderous tales. The music gets rather groovier here, and remaining attractive as ever, providing more solid riffage to bang your head accordingly to this disturbing tale of Leonarda Cianciulli, a lady responsible for killing three women and turning their bodies into soap and teacakes. It’s a bit interesting to look into Church of Misery’s choice of murderers, as I’m sure their other albums are just as dark and twisted as this one.

And Then There Were None is a great album to get into from Church of Misery if you haven’t already this year. Its stoner and doom metal that's extremely easy to love, and if you’re curious enough, the band can provide a bit of a history lesson in “Murderers 101.”