Album Spotlight: Lord Have Mercy by The Virgos

By Ryan Germ

 Alright fine, I’ll talk about this record despite me wanting to get this out on NYE so the technicality of “the year isn’t over, how can you have a definitive AOTY” is out of the way. But with them signing to legendary label Season Of Mist which represented such legendary names including Mayhem, Abbath, Saint Vitus, and The Dillinger Escape Plan, I think I can change plans and talk about this a tad earlier than expected. As mentioned this release is hands down my AOTY by a country mile, so strap in to hear me gush about the greatest release of 2025 coming from this “Glam Slam” trio from Wilkes-Barre.

The record starts with a very slow atmospheric opener titled Devils In Command. Sludgey instrumentals over samples and hypnotic leads? Sign me up.

The intro leads straight into song 2, Her Majesty. In my opinion this song is the hardest song written by a cat (sorry Wicked Pussycat off Danzig 777) as this song was written about frontman/guitar wizard Andy Saba’s late cat, Queen Diamond. Now this song has it all, hypnotic leads, a ripping solo, a two step worthy verse, and sludge so slow that you have to make a stank face. For a song that sounds so heavy and evil the lyrics are some of the sweetest I’ve heard in heavy music including but not limited to “When I press my head, When I smell that rainbow girl, if I die we can do it again, if I die right now we can do it again” and also “I was no one, I was nothing yeah, ‘til I loved her majesty”.

The next song World Ain’t Dead has such a great riff over pummeling drums over some of the most aggressive vocals on this whole record. The guitar work is definitely the show stealer on this song. The vocals in the chorus are done by bassist Danni Crockett and she fucking kills it with a very brief yet very memorable vocal performance in this track.

This next song is what made me take notice of The Virgos, I saw this cool medieval ass music video on Hardlore’s instagram story in the summer, it was the song Yes and I must have played it 15 times that day wishing the album was out. It kicks off with a badass metallic riff with drums that throw you right in the action before switching to a heavy tremolo picking section reminiscent of black metal acts. Saba’s vocals come in right after with the grooviest riff and the chorus is a half poppy half metallic trip. They run that structure through again before having a dream pop esque breakdown, with Saba’s vocals becoming even more angelic. Great track.

Next song I can’t break down like the last few or we’ll be here all day so I’ll just quickly say that this song, Iron Gauntlet/Velvet Glove is probably the greatest song to drop this year. It’s not my most listened to song at all, but this 8 minute behemoth has it all, amazing heavy parts, one of my favorite solos of all time, some softer parts interspersed throughout and the vocals are perfect. Please go give it a listen.

The Hypnotist is probably the best straight up solo in terms of sound throughout the whole record, but it doesn’t have the build up that Iron Gauntlet did which is to be expected from a 8 minute long song against an interlude. For an interlude though? I think this is one of the better ones I’ve heard as it keeps the momentum whilst not being too out there, it’s perfect for what it is as a bridge to side B.

The next song, She Was In A Trance has very heavy guitars but it’s different from side A of the record as this is a way more psychedelic type of song. Saba’s vocals sound a bit closer to a Peter Steele type of vocal style compared to side A. The backing vocals for the chorus are shockingly very harsh despite this song being on the slower and more poppy end of the spectrum for this particular record.

Another great song comes next in Boneheart. This is the closest thing on the album to a ballad, but I don’t think you can call it that as it’s way too heavy to be a ballad. I think there’s a triangle in this song at one point, and if there is then consider this my request to be the official Virgos triangle player whenever they hit Philly. No joke, I will buy a triangle.

The next track Personal Thing kicks off with a Pantera sounding riff that persists through the chorus. This song blends crunchy guitars with enough atmosphere to keep the feeling of walking through a snowy forest at night that this record has. The chorus is very catchy, with the chant of “oh yeah personal thing” beckoning throughout the song.

Babylon ends the record off on a slightly experimental note, it’s a live song that’s very familiar to the rest of this record. But the production on the vocals sounds slightly more reverbed only further emphasizing the atmospheric feel. Sower does guest vocals and keys on this record making it a departure from other Virgos songs. It eventually builds to a wall of sound before ending my AOTY.

So this record by far is the best release of 2025, it’s a breath of fresh air compared to most doom metal. It’s heavy with the instrumentals but doesn’t talk about death and despair and instead talks about kitty cats. But it still has that dark edge that’s appealing. I hope we get the lyrics coming out soon.