There is an irony in mainstream society alleging to be disgusted by the image, sound, or message of a Rock band but fails to see that the world they live in has bred what they despise.
Evidence of hypocrisy all around, we demonize the tobacco industry, but replace it with a multimillion-dollar marijuana one. We legalize gambling, yet wonder why so many people are addicted. We dish out the high-fat, loaded with chemical additives food, then sell people drugs to lose weight or fight cancers caused by it.
Seeing a pattern here? Are you awake enough to pay attention? If so, chances are you have your level of disgust with those virtues signaling how much they are applauded by whatever the current news is feeding them. Welcome to the modern world, with plenty of room for a band like Our Frankenstein.
Coming together in Southern California, our Frankenstein is a band with a dark, gothic, and Industrial Metal sound reminiscent of something you may have enjoyed in the 1990s or early 2000s. A band that has made its way since forming in 2013, they have put out a steady stream of music, including their 2020 debut album A Pale Horse and 2022’s Hypercult. Collections of songs worth the time to look into feature a sound that those who are fans of everything from Bauhaus to Marilyn Manson would enjoy.
With this in mind, in 2025, Our Frankenstein, led by Vocalist Ryan Frankenstein, returns with what could be their most mesmerizing album to date, Magnum Spire Hotel. Released on April 25, 2025, through Reclamation Records, their third album (produced by Psyclon Nine’s Nero Bellum) finds them fully enthralled in a record that develops a story around a dystopian place. Feeling like a film brought to life in sound, you check into the Magnum Spire Hotel and immediately ascend on a journey with horror around every corner.
Utilizing a cinematic aesthetic, there is a theatrical element to the Magnum Spire Hotel that is undoubtedly enticing. Still, the lyrical content’s realism mirrors our society’s dark side, which genuinely keeps your attention. This is achieved with the haunting must-listen title-track, the doomish “The Burden” and “Curtain Call,” but also the irresistible Gothic Rock leaning “Judas Dance.” Then there is a fire-starting “Kerosene” which touches on the atrocity that is media, which cry about the tragedy surrounding them, fuel hatred, but are only concerned with views and revenue, opposed to any actual person affected by what they are reporting.
Overall, Our Frankenstein’s Magnum Spire Hotel paints a gloomy image of a future that can only be blamed on apathy, vanity, and self-serving individuals. Brutal, but honest, it is an album with edge, atmosphere, and potency. That is why Cryptic Rock highly recommends Our Frankenstein and Magnum Spire Hotel, giving it 4 out of 5 stars.
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