Blue Oyster Cult - ' The Symbol Remains' Frontiers srl

Frontiers have been pumping out a stream of live and re-vamped Cult albums recently and that’s presumably what funded the recording of this. It is all original songs but features a mix of old and new songs and a substantial contribution from long-time band associate, Richie Castellano, who gets almost equal billing on the song-writing, vocals and guitar playing.

There’s much to enjoy. “That Was Me” rocks out with bad intentions in a paean to bad behaviour, albeit broken up by a short reggae interlude ‘Spirit of Radio’ style. The band continue to embrace their dark side in the metallic(a) “Stand and Fight” while the jazz-swing influenced “Nightmare Epiphany” and Bloom’s vampire lament “Tainted Blood” put a smoother sheen on the horror.

“The Return of Saint Cecilia” is something of a throwback to the Sandy Pearlman days. The lyrics come from an outside writer in Richard Meltzer and are set to music with a significant Mk II Deep Purple vibe to it. More modern themes are addressed in “The Machine and “The Edge of the World” and these are among the most melodic tracks on show.

Castellano’s showpiece “The Alchemist” is six minutes of weirdness but there’s plenty going on and it’s the best song here. Kudos also to whoever plays the main guitar solo on “Secret Road” as it is also very good. I feel “Train True” is less effective as it’s a bit too Lonnie Donegan for me and “Box in my Head” takes a couple of listens to tune in to what sounds like a “Being John Malkovich” kind of thing. There’s fourteen songs in all and “There’s a Crime” and “Fight” bring it to a very pleasant finish.

Overall, it’s a very decent effort and represents all that is good about the band but, like everything in life, it would have benefitted from more cowbell.