The Fiends don’t get
a lot of points on the originality scale, but this doesn’t stop these Vancouver
boys from making good rock-n-roll for the right reasons. Basing their sound on
classic 60’s garage rock, complete with Vox guitars, amps, and keyboards. Most
of these recordings are from back in 1994, plus a few live tracks and demos
thrown in for good measure. All of which are totally fuzz-soaked (which is hard
not to do with Vox gear). Some of the stand out tracks like “Zombies Have
Feelings Too” and “Come See Me” have catchy hooks without losing their rocking
edge. The cover art work is nicely drawn comic book etchings of zombies crawling
out of graves, with a full figured brunette in fishnet stockings holding them at
bay with a shovel. If you like raunchy 60’s garage rock and the living dead,
you’re sure to love this disc. (Scott Stemple)
After a three year absence, GWAR is back with a new album
and a new label. Not much else has changed, though. The band still blends
metal, punk, social satire, and just plain gross out humor to create their
unique brand of twisted performance art/rock. The guitar work is a little more
impressive, but overall this still sounds like the GWAR you’ve either come to
know and love or know and hate. “Bring Back the Bomb” starts things off
impressively with some brutal technical death riffing, and “Womb With a View” is
a typically offensive but catchy number for the band. A few touches here and
there help to distinguish this from past releases, but GWAR is hardly trying to
reinvent the wheel. The satire may be a little more political than on past
albums, but it’s still done in such a way that you can enjoy it for the sheer
over the top sickness as much as for any “message”. Nothing outstanding, but if
you’re a GWAR fan I doubt you’ll be disappointed. (Bob Ignizio)
Guitar Wolf – ‘R.R.E. (Rock n
Roll Etiquette)’ (Narnack Records)
Guitar Wolf have been
around for close to twenty years now and I still have trouble putting my finger
on them. They remind me of a strong cup of black coffee; an acquired taste so
bitter at first but then becomes a life necessity. In their latest release "R.R.E",
the guitar work is unmatched. The rhythm guitar (Seiji) and bass (Billy) weave
in and out of each other like two snakes fucking. Meanwhile Toru (drums) beats
the skins like there is zero gravity and he must prevent his set from floating
off. Pop, pop, pop, pop! The most exciting thing about this album (and all GW's
albums) is not being able to understand a word they are singing. This allows the
listener to receive the vocals as a fourth instrument instead of a means for
communication. However, for those of you who need to sing along, there are two
english tracks on the record. The one thing I absolutely hate about this album
is the contrived, studio produced fake lo-fi static. If you like lo-fi and
record an album that way, fine. It is quite obvious that this album was recorded
brilliantly in a studio and later ruined with computer produced static and peak
outs. This is enough for me not to recommend "P.R.E", because it just doesn’t
sound good turned way up and that’s the only way to enjoy an album like this.
(Dave Evans)
While I know my opinion is not shared by many, I thought
the “Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi” album ‘7th Star’ was a really good
record. Originally intended as a Tony Iommi solo album, ‘7th Star’ featured the
vocals of ex-Deep Purple and Trapeze bass player/vocalist Glenn Hughes. It was
a much more straight ahead blues rock affair than anything previously released
under the Sabbath name, and it understandably was not what many Sabbath fans
were looking for. Still, it was a good album for what it was, and I’m quite
happy to see Mr. Iommi and Mr. Hughes back together again. And this time
there’s no attempt to pass the results off as a Sabbath album. The eight songs
on here are as much blues rock as heavy metal, and showcase both Iommi’s melodic
lead playing and Hughes exceptional vocal talent. Favorite tracks are the
melodic “Don’t Drag the River” and the Sabbathy “Time is the Healer”. (Bob
Ignizio)
The Fiends don’t get
a lot of points on the originality scale, but this doesn’t stop these Vancouver
boys from making good rock-n-roll for the right reasons. Basing their sound on
classic 60’s garage rock, complete with Vox guitars, amps, and keyboards. Most
of these recordings are from back in 1994, plus a few live tracks and demos
thrown in for good measure. All of which are totally fuzz-soaked (which is hard
not to do with Vox gear). Some of the stand out tracks like “Zombies Have
Feelings Too” and “Come See Me” have catchy hooks without losing their rocking
edge. The cover art work is nicely drawn comic book etchings of zombies crawling
out of graves, with a full figured brunette in fishnet stockings holding them at
bay with a shovel. If you like raunchy 60’s garage rock and the living dead,
you’re sure to love this disc. (Scott Stemple)
After a three year absence, GWAR is back with a new album
and a new label. Not much else has changed, though. The band still blends
metal, punk, social satire, and just plain gross out humor to create their
unique brand of twisted performance art/rock. The guitar work is a little more
impressive, but overall this still sounds like the GWAR you’ve either come to
know and love or know and hate. “Bring Back the Bomb” starts things off
impressively with some brutal technical death riffing, and “Womb With a View” is
a typically offensive but catchy number for the band. A few touches here and
there help to distinguish this from past releases, but GWAR is hardly trying to
reinvent the wheel. The satire may be a little more political than on past
albums, but it’s still done in such a way that you can enjoy it for the sheer
over the top sickness as much as for any “message”. Nothing outstanding, but if
you’re a GWAR fan I doubt you’ll be disappointed. (Bob Ignizio)
Guitar Wolf have been
around for close to twenty years now and I still have trouble putting my finger
on them. They remind me of a strong cup of black coffee; an acquired taste so
bitter at first but then becomes a life necessity. In their latest release "R.R.E",
the guitar work is unmatched. The rhythm guitar (Seiji) and bass (Billy) weave
in and out of each other like two snakes fucking. Meanwhile Toru (drums) beats
the skins like there is zero gravity and he must prevent his set from floating
off. Pop, pop, pop, pop! The most exciting thing about this album (and all GW's
albums) is not being able to understand a word they are singing. This allows the
listener to receive the vocals as a fourth instrument instead of a means for
communication. However, for those of you who need to sing along, there are two
english tracks on the record. The one thing I absolutely hate about this album
is the contrived, studio produced fake lo-fi static. If you like lo-fi and
record an album that way, fine. It is quite obvious that this album was recorded
brilliantly in a studio and later ruined with computer produced static and peak
outs. This is enough for me not to recommend "P.R.E", because it just doesn’t
sound good turned way up and that’s the only way to enjoy an album like this.
(Dave Evans)
While I know my opinion is not shared by many, I thought
the “Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi” album ‘7th Star’ was a really good
record. Originally intended as a Tony Iommi solo album, ‘7th Star’ featured the
vocals of ex-Deep Purple and Trapeze bass player/vocalist Glenn Hughes. It was
a much more straight ahead blues rock affair than anything previously released
under the Sabbath name, and it understandably was not what many Sabbath fans
were looking for. Still, it was a good album for what it was, and I’m quite
happy to see Mr. Iommi and Mr. Hughes back together again. And this time
there’s no attempt to pass the results off as a Sabbath album. The eight songs
on here are as much blues rock as heavy metal, and showcase both Iommi’s melodic
lead playing and Hughes exceptional vocal talent. Favorite tracks are the
melodic “Don’t Drag the River” and the Sabbathy “Time is the Healer”. (Bob
Ignizio)