Creeper - Sanguivore (LP) - Red Vinyl

Creeper’s third album, Sanguivore, arrived on 27 October 2023 via Spinefarm and it plays like a grand, bloodstained love letter to gothic rock, glam bombast and classic melodrama. The band has always loved a bit of theatre, but this time they’ve built a whole night at the opera around it. Think Sisters of Mercy shadowplay, the romantic sweep of Jim Steinman, and a dash of The Damned’s swagger, all stitched together with sharp hooks and a cinematic sense of scale.

The opening track, Further Than Forever, nearly nine minutes, sets the tone with pure ambition. It swells and pivots through passages like a stage production, guitars spiralling while strings and keys lift the choruses skyward. Will Gould leans into his narrator role with relish, crooning and belting like a doomed hero telling you the tale from the footlights. That theatrical bent has always simmered in Creeper’s work, but Sanguivore makes it the point. It’s a vampiric saga, tragic and camp in the best way, where desire feels dangerous and the night is something to run toward.

Singles like Cry To Heaven and Teenage Sacrifice hit fast and hard. Cry To Heaven rides a galloping beat and a chorus that lands on first listen, a jolt of adrenaline that still leaves room for those elegant keyboard flourishes Hannah Greenwood threads through the album. Teenage Sacrifice tilts toward glossy 80s pop-rock, but the guitars bite and the rhythm section drives, so it never loses its teeth. Black Heaven, with its synth sheen and stalking tempo, leans into the clubby, neon side of goth, the kind of track that begs for dry ice and a mirrorball.

Tom Dalgety’s production gives the record a huge, burnished finish. The drums feel monumental, the backing vocals are stacked like cathedral rafters, and there are clever little details tucked into the corners, from choir-like pads to slapped-on tambourine that nudges the choruses forward. It suits Creeper’s aim here, which is to go big and then bigger again. The band’s core of Will Gould, guitarist Ian Miles and Greenwood sound like they’re thriving in this setting, with Greenwood’s harmonies adding warmth whenever the lyric tilts toward tragedy.

Plenty of critics clocked the ambition. NME and Kerrang! both praised Sanguivore for its scale and sense of fun, and that feels right. It’s a record that borrows freely from grand gestures, yet finds its own pulse through character and pacing. The final stretch lands its ending with The Ballad of Spook and Mercy, a title that hints at the album’s lore and a performance that really sells the heartbreak. The melody lingers, the arrangement opens out, and you’re left with the sense of a curtain falling on some doomed romance that will keep playing in your head anyway.

If you’ve followed Creeper since Eternity, In Your Arms and the noir-tinted EP American Noir, you’ll hear the lineage. But there’s more confidence here, more willingness to flirt with pomposity and then twist it into something that feels like them. The guitars chew through chunky, Billy Idol sized riffs, the choruses are outsized without tipping into parody, and the lyrics are steeped in nocturnal imagery that fits like a velvet glove. Crucially, the band sound like they’re having a blast, and that joy is infectious.

Sanguivore is also a treat on the turntable. The scale of the arrangements shines with a bit of air around it, and the low end has that satisfying thump that rewards a proper listen, not just a phone speaker skim. If you’re hunting for Creeper vinyl, this is the one you’ll keep flipping back to, the kind of album you put on for friends and then end up arguing about favourite tracks while you cue up side B again. Sanguivore vinyl sits nicely alongside their earlier releases too, so if you buy Creeper records online and you’re rounding out the collection, it’s a no brainer.

For crate diggers in vinyl records Australia circles, keep an eye on your local Melbourne record store, or any shop that stocks the louder end of UK rock. Creeper albums on vinyl tend to move quickly, and this era has brought in new fans who heard the singles and then fell for the deep cuts. However you find it, Sanguivore feels like a band swinging for the fences and hitting clean. Big feelings, big choruses, and a night-world worth visiting again.