Dax Riggs is one of those musicians that have been around for years. He has been in more bands than even Wikipedia can count. Like any good musician Riggs has evolved his sound over time. Where once he was a front man for sludge metal bands like Acid Bath and Agents of Oblivion he has aged into a stately, but slightly grim, man of rock, and he’s only 36. Riggs spent two plus decades in one band after another but has branched out as a solo artist and just released his second solo album Say Goodnight to the World.
Say Goodnight is about as bleak of an album as you can get. If a song doesn’t outright mention death or dying it is heavily implied. With track titles like “You Were Born To Be My Gallows” and “See You All In Hell or New Orleans” you know these songs aren’t going to be covered by the happy kids in Glee anytime soon. The highlight of the album has to be the cover of Elvis’s “Heartbreak Hotel.” Riggs puts so much emotion in those well-worn lyrics you won’t be able to listen to the original the same way again.
Taken as a whole Say Goodnight defies any particular genre. It has rhythmic blues ballads, classic rock guitar riffs, and electronic synthesizers but it all comes together under Riggs’s strong vocals. You might feel like a doomed soul after listening to it but everyone feels like that once in while, at least now there is a soundtrack.
For more information on Dax Riggs check out MySpace and get Say Goodnight now on on iTunes.
I found the album artwork to be scary, made me not even want to open this CD. Props to you for taking a chance and listening to it.