Lich King at Myspace

Amherst’s Lich King combine Bay Area thrash worship with goofy lyrics to create an album that’s mostly for die-hard thrash fans only. Although the band claims to be a quintet, I suspect that it’s a one or two-man project, as the band lists among its personnel Darth Vader on bass, Hulk Hogan on drums, and A Fucking Tyrannosaur on vocals. Say, could you imagine what would’ve happened if Mr. A. F. Tyrannosaur had wanted to play guitar? They would’ve had to have custom-ordered a huge one to accomodate him, and even then his playing would’ve been highly constricted due to him having only two fingers on each hand. But I digress.

Songs include “Black Metal Sucks” (which is just a regular thrash song until the last 30 seconds, which are a riotous parody of the title genre), the hilariously-titled “Attack of the Wrath of the War of the Death of the Strike of the Sword of the Blood of the Beast,” and “Office Politics” (which is complete with a sample of Milton from Office Space). Although the lyrics are humorous, the music never quite manages to transcend its Bay Area influence, and just feels like thrash worship. Of course, this is a comedy album, so the music isn’t quite as important as the lyrics, which begs the question of why the mediocre instrumental “I Destroy” was included. Another track, “Predator,” recounts the film of the same name; Arnocorps already did this about a million times better. All in all, Toxic Zombie Onslaught is competently executed but fairly dull, and only moderately amusing.

Animals Killing People at Myspace

I’m not exactly a fan of extreme animal liberation groups. Whether they’re comparing Holocaust victims to livestock, staging sophomoric stunts involving naked women or completely ignoring the problem of animal-on-animal violence, I wouldn’t want to be even remotely associated with them even if I were a vegan. However, Animals Killing People have been inspired by their ideology to craft a solid album of deathgrind.

After a sample starts off the album, the first thing you’ll notice are the vocals. The vocals are some of the deepest, most guttural grunts I’ve ever heard, like some jagged, rusty chainsaw assembled by the devil himself. Unfortunately, the instrumental backing is just  too low in the mix, making the music too hard to hear. If you don’t normally listen to music with headphones, I advise doing so for this album; you won’t get the full effect otherwise. The music is chaotic, as is typical for grindcore, but without being completely directionless. Samples are used well, but sparingly; the band was smart enough not to put them in every track.

My biggest complaint was that the band put one of those lengthy hidden tracks at the end of the album. I HATE that gimmick. Aside from that, though, there’s really not much to complain about here, unless you’re so set against PETA-style propaganda that you can’t bear to listen to it even when it’s delivered through incomprehensible growling.

Motörhead at Myspace

Motörhead isn’t a band that’s known for changing its sound much over the years. Despite the fact that Lemmy is the sole constant member, its sound has remained very consistent over the years. That said, there are differences from album to album; you just have to be playing close attention to hear them.

Orgasmatron (originally released in 1986) was Motörhead’s first album as a four-piece, and the first without drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor (except for “On Parole,” which was recorded in 1975 but not released until 1979). The dual guitars are a nice addition; they’re played by Wurzel and Phil Campbell (who is still in the band today). The production by Bill Laswell has its ups and downs; I liked the obviously sampled backing vocals on the songs “Deaf Forever” and “The Claw”, but Lemmy’s bass playing is just buried in the mix so far that it’s almost completely inaudible.

My favorite song was the title track, which denounces the negative effects of organized religion. This topic was so controversial that no other metal band has dared take it on before or since. All in all, despite a few minor changes from formula, it’s a pretty typical Motörhead album. The songs are simplistic but fun, and Lemmy’s voice is just as scraggly as ever.If you like Motörhead’s other work, check this out; if you hate the band, skip it.

Giant Squid at Myspace

I’ll be honest: The only reason I picked this album up was due to the band’s name (I love all things cephalopodic). So I was lucky when this album turned out to be awesome. Giant Squid’s Metridium Fields is an excellent effort; although it has its less than metal moments, an open-minded listener should find much to enjoy here. Both more traditional sludgy guitars and keyboards provide incredibly atmospheric drones that permeate the entire album. The keyboards are used exceptionally well, and a variety of types are used; the liner notes credit Aurielle Gregory with performing on a Moog Opus 3, Micromoog, piano, Rhodes, my personal favorite, the Hammond organ*, and several others.

My favorite track was the album’s titular song, a 21-minute epic soundscape. It’s repetitive, to be sure, but the band members keep making subtle changes in the riffs that reward close listening. I only have one complaint about this release: the vocals are terrible! I know that Giant Squid skirts the edges of being metal, but the vocals here sound like some of those faggy indie bands my sister listens to. I’m not demanding death growls, but I would’ve liked something with a little more punch. I still give Metridium Fields a high grade, though, and am disappointed that they lost their label support. As a result, their upcoming album, “The Ichthyologist,” will be limited to just 1000 self-released copies.

*Seriously, I think it’s been scientifically proven that it’s impossible for anything with a Hammond organ in it to suck. I have a record called “Freddy’s Greatest Hits” which was a tie-in to one of the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels. It’s about as awful as you’d expect, but there’s a cover of Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour” with a Hammond organ on it that I just love.

Cannibal Corpse at Myspace

To celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary, Metal Blade Records has released this 3-disc retrospective DVD chronicling the history of Cannibal Corpse, and it is excellent. I’m normally not that interested in music-related DVDs, but this one is packed with interesting information and hilarious footage. Disc 1 contains a three-hour documentary on the band’s history that features all Cannibal Corpse members past and present (except founding guitarist Bob Rusay, who was apparently impossible to track down). There’s scarcely a wasted moment on this disc; my favorite parts were old footage of band members screwing around with a camera and how lead singer George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher gave most of his interviews in front of a bookcase full of action figures that were still in their boxes. I knew he was nerdy, but not that nerdy! I also liked getting to see people associated with the band who I previously only knew by reputation; cover artist Vince Locke looks nothing like you’d expect someone who drew such gory images to look like.

Disc 2 is a set of Cannibal Corpse performances from all eras of the band (although the Barnes era is underrepresented). I liked this disc, but it was my least favorite of the three; I’ve never really cared that much for live DVDs. The second disc also contains all of the band’s videos. Disc 3 contains a bunch of themed collections of footage that didn’t make it into the first disc. My favorites among these were “Sickening Metalocalypse,” which covers Fisher’s recurring role on the Adult Swim show; “Every Ban Broken,” which discusses the censorship problems that the band has faced in countries like Germany and New Zealand, and “Covered With Ink,” which shows how die-hard Corpse fans have gotten images from the band’s notoriously gruesome album covers tattooed on them.

I only have one major complaint about this DVD set- the sound just isn’t loud enough! I watched this on my laptop, and even with the volume turned all the way up, it was noticeably less loud than actual Cannibal Corpse songs being played on iTunes on the same laptop. You’d think that a DVD about a band like CC would be as loud as possible. But despite that, I heartily recommend this DVD set. It’s highly entertaining, reasonably priced (at just $25 US), and has plenty of material (well over seven hours). I give it five out of five skinless, rotting cadavers.