Alternative Press
Issue #8
David Earle

Every now and then the question would pop into my mind, “What ever happened to that GARGOYLE SOX album that was supposed to come out?” Well, it came out, and that question was not only ended, but was blissfully lulled into non-existence when I actually heard the above mentioned album. The question would never have been asked if GARGOYLE SOX’s first E.P., “As The Master Sleeps...” hadn’t been good. That little taste I got awoke that elusive curiosity and hunger for... more? I am quite content, but not to the point of excess... there is always room for more.

The potential that was made apparent in “As The Master Sleeps...” was sucessfully tapped in “Headless Horseman.” GARGOYLE SOX, who are only two men and their drum machines, show their diversity on this album once and for all.

ROCKPOOL
Septemeber 12, 1986
Greg Lugliani

Attention all dark entusiasts, devotees of Vincent Price, wearers of black and other creeps; here is a juicy album awaiting the feel of your fangs. “Headless Horseman” will grip you by the love handles and shake you into a state of brooding possession with its nine wicked cuts. The tone is immediately set by the distantly Western instrumental “Brain Sell” and the threatening “Carnivore.” GARGOYLE SOX deftly display their acumen with “Serpent Circle” and “As The Master Sleeps...,” both brimming with devilish vocals and insistent instrumentation. Artistry is best exemplified in the lengthy title cut, where turbulent harmonies are embellished by ghostly guitar cascades, as deeply polished as old ebony. The fear and frolic of midnight is chanted about in “The Witches” and “Ugly Birds,” rounding out an album capable of absorbing all forms of light. Prepare for a descent into a medieal dungeon where, once strapped to a giant marble turntable, you will be driven wildly insane by the gloomy strains of “Headless Hoseman.”

OPTION MAGAZINE
November/December 1986

Adjectives like ‘dark’ keep springing to mind, and song titles such as “Carnivore,” “Serpant Circle, and “The Witches” should help you fill in the other blanks. This duo has talent and some good ideas. They’ll go far.

THE BOB
January/February 1987
Fred Mills

There’s some interesting material in this Detroit duo’s second release. Several tracks have a melodic finesse and complexity that bear repeated listens. “Serpent Circle” has both piano and guitar hooks that can’t be beat. The title track weaves several synth lines in and out between distant/echoed vocals while drum machine keep synchopation bubbling like blood throbbing in your temple, the net effect being one of detached nobility with an ominous undercurrent. And “Comfort Zone” takes off with cool, evil metallic guitars providing solid fuel for the trip’s duration.

DUCKBERG TIMES
November 25, 1986

Detroit based gloomsters with a very credible kind of album here. Yeah, the whole thing is rife with Uksludgist and pontifical arrangements, anchored by electronic rimshots and tubthumps. The secret here is that these SOX seem to understand the necessity to change before the smell sets in, no cut sounds quite like any other and some are downright intriguing. Worth a listen and a half, so buy American if you’re looking for melancholy obscurity done up quite well....

DETROIT METRO TIMES
February 25-March 3, 1987
Kevin Knapp

Herein the GARGOYLE SOX expand on the sinister sound that inhabited their first record. The duo maintains a malevolent edge that flares in “Carnivore” and “Comfort Zone,” but “Ugly Birds” is steeped in a warm melancholia, while “Serpent Circle” and “As The Master Sleeps...” swell with an atmospheric granduer. A dark, swirling production combines the heavy drum programs with lighter coloration, such as chimes, melodica, and French horn. It’s quite effective. GARGOYLE SOX have a disturbing sound that’s all their own.