TWISTED LULLABY: HAUNT ME SINGLE REVIEW
- Jun 20
- 4 min read
'Haunt Me' is the latest release of Meanjin/Brisbane Alt-Metal band Twisted Lullaby, hitting the airwaves on June 3rd. Haunt Me follows the release of mammoth tracks 'Murder Me' and 'Siren Song' which you can read the reviews for Murder Me Here and Siren Song Here. Haunt me is marked as "An eerie, cinematic metal track exploring themes of betrayal, grief and vengeance!" Haunt me is a continuation of the tale from Murder Me where our protagonist falls into the trap of her lover and would be murderer. While the story is a dark and twisted tale spoken through a veil of personal experience, it leaves you in the perfect place for Haunt Me to come in and give you the karmic retribution of the murderer
that you are left wanting at the ending of Murder Me. When the mourning comes who doesn't like a win for the downtrodden and victimised? You killed my heart, You threw it out, What you left of me, I pulled from the ground, There's an aching, breaking, Ghostly Rage, Building up inside me, It's a feeling, It's a feeling, I don't shake.
After a brutal betrayal and violent death, the victim returns from the grave to haunt the lover who killed her. Blending haunting melodies, metal riffs, and ethereal vocals, the track explores themes of grief, vengeance, and obsession.
On this vengeful cold night, I swear, I'll be right by, Your side till, You die with me, As the light begins to fade, And we're blinded, To what we break. My first impressions were if The Craft, Corpse Bride and The Ring had a spine tingling baby, the result would be this song; and I highly doubt that the full body shivers I received had anything to do with the cold Australian Winter air. As a domestic violence survivor myself I connected quickly to the idea of having to drag what is left of yourself out of the hole that you have been left in once the perpetrator has discarded you; and how easily you could slip into a life of hatred and revenge. Our protagonist falls into the space of "You will know how it feels" as she returns from the
grave to seek retaliation for the harm placed upon her in life. There is a layer underneath the main story which feels like a love spell that turned sour, causing it to twist into a mangled version of itself where "If I can't have you nobody can" and "You will be with me forever, in life and death, my darling." I genuinely enjoy the way that Shay tells her stories, with their unexpected phrases and turns in the stories. Her lyric writing ability is a breath of fresh air and at the potential risk of sounding like a school report card, her word play, layering of themes, expression of emotions, ability to turn real life hurts and experiences into fantasy tales and world creation has me excited for what her brain will come up with next. What's mine is yours, And your life is mine, Tonight you die and, Till you die, By my own hand, I watched you die, In death you are mine. I am historically a guitar solo hater, as in most cases they feel like they are there for no other purpose than "look at how well I can play guitar," which I get it, but it is not personally something I find interesting. However, Twisted Lullaby has given a guitar solo that
even I approve of. This solo actually adds to the story that is playing out, pulling you into the spiralling grief and sorrow of a life that ended in tragedy and the inescapable connection to the revenge that needs to be dealt out. The beginning of Haunt Me had me on edge, like I was waiting for a predator to reveal themselves and quickly the song shifts as the protagonist emerges into view and the heat of vengeance fills the space. The layers of voices, off-kilter warnings, vocal effects (creating uncanny valley experiences) and combination of the raw masculine voice and sickeningly sweet feminine will have you sitting at the edge of your chair. The push and pull of softness and heaviness creates a dynamic environment that will hook you from the off and hold you in place until the last eerie note. With so many aspects happening throughout this track I could honestly talk for hours about how well this story is written and the imagery it created in my brain while I sat with my headphones on. So, I will finish this off by saying that Haunt Me is a master class in story telling and writing music, every aspect of both falling into place seamlessly with one another in a way that only drives the point further. I will find you, In your dreams, I will haunt you, Like you haunt me, While you think you're fast asleep, Trapped tight beneath your sheets, I will find you, In your dreams, I will haunt you, Like you haunt me, It was in love I fell, Only death I found.
For Fans Of: Evanescence, System of a Down and Nirvana
10/10
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