Frightmare - Bringing Back the Bloodshed (2006)

Frightmare is among my favorites from the Portland-based gore metal legions of Razorback Records. Like their compatriots, this project of Maniac Neil (Lord Gore, Blood Freak) carving their own bloody niche with an arsenal of thrashing riffs.

Bringing Back the Bloodshed sets the mood with an intro straight from an old horror VHS, then bursts through your bedroom window with Angela, a violent introduction to Frightmare's brand of thrashing, gory Carcass worship. "Friday the 13th Part 2" chronicles the return of Jason Voorhees, the music again swollen to bursting with sick, sick, sick guitarwork as remains constant throughout the album. The catchy hooks and classic solos never end. "Barbecutioner" might sound like a Dethklok song title, but it fucking slays, opening with a quick sample and a killer riff that could be packaged and sold as an instant moshpit kit, and ending with a hilarious surprise 70s funk outro. I could go on. Every song is awesome, the electrics backed by blasting drums and a fine production, clean and sharp like a honed machete.

The album isn't perfect, though. The Carcass-style dual modulated vocals are solid, but blessedly unintelligible. The lyrics are incredibly bad, some of the worst I've ever read that come from a band that otherwise knows what they're doing. I won't even reproduce them here because the last time I read them I had to quit listening to the album for a couple of years. They're seriously that bad, and reading them will hamstring your enjoyment of the album. You've been warned. The only exception to this rule is the album's final track, a great cover of Laaz Rockit's Leatherface.

But, hey, shitty lyrics you can't understand, whatever. Pop in Bringing Back the Bloodshed, turn the speakers up as high as they'll go, and go kill your neighbors with that rusty axe you've got laying in your garage. Happy Halloween!

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.slashermetal.com/

Gore - Mean Man's Dream (1987/2008)

Well, this is a specter from the past. Cult Dutch darlings, Gore, have been resurrected after over two decades with their first two albums being digitally re-released by FSS and a cd/lp package through Southern Lord records. Mean Man's Dream is the second of these, originally released in 1987, and I believe it was their last album as a full band before becoming a solo project. A bit of trivia - Bohren & der Club of Gore were inspired by Gore to play without a singer, and their name is a reference to this.

Gore were an instrumental band with a style somewhere in between the splayed legs of noise rock and doom metal. Unconcerned with the world around it, Mean Man's Dream always moves at its own contented, purposeful pace. It's heavy and distorted, yet stuffed full of looping, thrashy riffs and aloof grooves. You would be right to expect the guitar as the big draw here, but you'll be nicely surprised to notice the attention that has been payed to each instrument. The drums have a lovingly spacious sound, while the bass is a serious presence shoring up the album. With that said, though, the production is somewhat lighter than it deserves. I'm not sure if that's because of the remastering or what they had to work with originally, but there's not enough heft to it. That is, of course, if you're listening to it at normal levels, which I advise against - the sound definitely comes into its own once the volume has been sufficiently cranked.

So does it all work? Yes and no. There is a high degree of repetition to each song, meaning that you really have to be hungry for the noise intricacies to make it all the way through. The riffs are slightly hypnotic in their repetition and carry you along, yet, with the one guitar being the only real source of variety, it can get weary. The drums have a good amount of difference between songs, but stick to a the same pattern throughout each individual piece. On most songs, however, it's rather worth it to listen through. Without any singing or, well, anything extra, the noise takes on its own identity, providing its own incentive to follow the songs and witness its degeneration. "Chainsaw" is easily the attention-grabber of the album with its insistent drumbeat and urgently decaying wall of guitars. It's a raucous song for dirty, feral streets full of prowling malice. "Last Steps" is perhaps my least favourite piece, with a stop-start riff that never goes anywhere and doesn't let up for the entire song.

On one hand, I have to give this album a nod for its satisfying noisiness and for being pretty unique back in 1987. However, it's not exactly very impressive as an album twenty years later. Many of the songs are really in need of some sort of progression, as they feel slightly incomplete. I can easily imagine these blokes being totally awesome live when listening to the album, but that doesn't make for an experience that will draw me back very often. But, in the end, the fact that this came out so long ago, combined with my overall enjoyment of their sound, wins out. There's a reason why Gore have their cult status, and I can dig that.

Verdict: Win [4/5]

http://www.flingcosound.com/