If Road to Noxen was The Virgos clawing their way back to the surface — battered, bruised, and bleary-eyed from the distortion-soaked quagmire of Pennsylvania Death Trip — then Lord Have Mercy is them standing tall atop the wreckage, preaching to the void with grim conviction. This album doesn’t just rebuild what came before; it reclaims it. The haze remains, but now it has purpose — atmosphere sharpened into intent, tone forged into ceremony. The Virgos sound more self-assured than ever, less obsessed with escaping their doom-laden roots and more invested in bending them into strange, sacred forms.
Where Road to Noxen often drifted through fog and fatigue, Lord Have Mercy moves with control — heavy, deliberate, ritualistic. The opener, “Devils In Command,” bridges the two worlds: slow, distorted, drenched in dread, yet polished with newfound clarity. The production breathes, giving instruments a massive, balanced presence. Each layer of fuzz feels sculpted rather than smothering. It sets the tone perfectly — a procession into the abyss, not a stumble through it.
From there, Lord Have Mercy expands the band’s sonic palette without fracturing it. Tracks like “Her Majesty” and “World Ain’t Dead” pulse with a kinetic energy that Noxen only hinted at. Riffs swing rather than slump, the bass punches forward, and even amid the gloom, there’s a sense of forward motion — doom metal imbued with muscle and grace. The Virgos have rediscovered momentum, and it suits them perfectly.
Introspection isn’t abandoned; it’s integrated. “Iron Gauntlet / Velvet Glove” is a sprawling epic that epitomizes the album’s strengths. Its crushing heavy sections echo the monolithic weight of Death Trip, while its quieter, more melodic passages reflect the dreamlike melancholy of Noxen. The shifts between brute force and haunted serenity feel natural, a testament to a band finally comfortable within their own contradictions. Tension and release are mastered here, and the ebb and flow of the track make it a centerpiece of the record.
Even the interlude, “The Hypnotist (March of the Pseudoscientists),” showcases this new command. Where Noxen’s ambience often drifted like smoke, this piece builds like a ritual — samples, drums, and guitars colliding in a deliberate, almost ceremonial summoning. Momentum carries through to “She Was In A Trance,” where the Virgos fully embrace their gothic tendencies. Dark, romantic, and cinematic, it’s perhaps the most atmospheric track they’ve ever written — part Peter Steele, part dream sequence.
The back half continues to explore texture without sacrificing intensity. “Personal Thing” and “Boneheart” experiment boldly, fusing Manson-esque menace, Pantera-style crunch, and swampy doom. Yet rather than feeling scattered, these elements coalesce under The Virgos’ unmistakable sonic identity. Their genre-blurring tendencies, once experimental, now feel like defining signatures.
Closing with “Babylon (Live)” feels almost symbolic. Its synth-laden, bluesy spookiness nods to past flirtations with darkwave and industrial tones, yet it’s executed with confidence and spectral beauty. The record ends not in chaos, but reverence — the sermon fading into static, leaving the listener in awe of the journey they’ve witnessed.
If Road to Noxen was a transitional work — textured but uneven, introspective but uncertain — Lord Have Mercy is the sound of The Virgos arriving. They’ve distilled the essence of everything that came before: the sludge-born weight of Pennsylvania Death Trip, the haze and melancholy of Noxen, and transformed it into something cohesive, commanding, and fully alive. Riffs hit harder, pacing is deliberate, and atmosphere feels earned rather than applied. Where Noxen sometimes hesitated, Lord Have Mercy marches. Tighter, heavier, and emotionally assured, it is not merely a return to form — it is evolution realized.
The Virgos are no longer wandering in the fog. They’ve found themselves in the fire. Lord Have Mercy solidifies their transformation from sludge disciples to doom evangelists — a record of power, poise, and haunting beauty. Heavy, haunted, and wholly their own, it stands as a testament to a band fully in command of their identity and their craft.
NOTABLE TRACKS:
Devils In Command
Her Majesty
Iron Gauntlet / Velvet Glove
She Was In A Trance