Pearl Jam ~ Vs. (album review) ... Following up an instant classic!

Style: grunge, hard rock
Label: Epic
Year: 1993
Home: Seattle

Members: Dave Abbruzzese ~ drums
Jeff Ament ~ bass
Stone Gossard ~ rhythm guitar
Mike McCready ~ lead guitar
Eddie Vedder ~ vocals

 

Anyone who expected a sequel to the chart-topping grungy Ten were probably disappointed by this release. But, as the years have foretold, this album set the stage for the Pearl Jam discography where every album is it's own unique world & expectations are thrown out the window. There will never be another Ten & Pearl Jam has too much to say to have it any other way. Vs. is far less polished than Ten & I often feel a lot more unpredictable, though it did reel off the legitimate array of hits "Go", "Daughter", "Animal", "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town", "Dissident" & "Glorified G", so it's unpredictability is far from a detriment. If Ten was considered a highlight of grunge, Vs. could be the raw & gnarly muck that grunge came out of. Ten had shown that the band could make a commercial impact, though more than they ever expected, while Vs. is the more experimental & aggressive side better suited to the clubs they'd become too big to play in with its dense sound of slashing guitars, while a more popular to music fans than big eyed teenage girls looking for the newest heartthrob ... cause no one will deny Eddie Vedder is a heartthrob. While Ten is stuffed with sing-along memorable lyrics perfect for MTV, Vs. focuses more on the music with the lyrics seemingly to get lost in the mix or treated as just another instrument & not the main focus. Sadly, maybe because of this, the album also has less memorable songs than its predecessor, or at least memorable in a different way. It's also an album that takes a few listens to get into, as it's so different than Ten & what we expect from Pearl Jam let alone it's fierce & aggressive. But, after a few listens one might even consider it a far stronger & entertaining album than Ten & more a reflection of the band than a producer or record label. It feels like a live album of a band having creative fun without the inherent weakness of a live setting making Ten seem like a overly controlled band looking for a hit. In the end, as long as one puts aside expectations, Vs. is a worthwhile purchase, but then most Pearl Jam albums are worthwhile additions to any musical collection as there's band quite like Pearl Jam.

Strummin' with the Devil: The Southern Side of Van Halen - A Tribute Featuring David Lee Roth (album review) ... Bluegrass attack Van Halen style!

Style: instrumental, bluegrass, 80's rock, country
Label: CMH
Year: 2006
Home: n/a

Members: David Lee Roth ~ vocals
Tony Trischka, Dennis Caplinger ~ banjo
Dudley Connell, Larry Cordle ~ guitar/vocals
Marshall Wilborn ~ acoustic bass/vocals
Dave McLaughlin ~ mandolin
John Jorgenson Bluegrass Band, Blue Highway, John Cowan Band, Mountain Heart, Iron Horse, David Grisman & Sons, Cornbread Red, Nashville Bluegrass Band ~ n/a

A quick Amazon search will find many hard rock/metal bands interpreted by bluegrass. Outside of classical, or maybe polka of which Wierd Al has the market cornered, one probably can't find two greater extremes & thus it only makes sense to try to bring them together. Having not heard the other bluegrass tributes, I can only say that this tribute to Van Halen is a pure delight for both rock & bluegrass fans. Many of the hits & a few lesser known tunes are included here with an array of respected bluegrass musicians & bands of the current scene. & every band shines, albeit those that stick most to the Van Halen arrangements tend to come out the weakest (i.e. "Jump", "Running With The Devil"). The best songs are the ones that bring something new to the songs, such as the highlight "Jamie's Cryin" which not just slows the song down but features a sad violin that might be more enjoyable than the original. "Dance The Night Away" is a slow romantic dance bringing the romance back to the song. "Ice Cream Man" & "Could This Be Magic?" sound as if they could have been written in the 1930's. The album advertises that it features former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth, but this is a slight misnomer as Roth features only on the first two tracks with the John Jorgenson Bluegrass Band behind him. Most of the songs feature vocals, though the instrumentals "Eruption" & "Hot For Teacher" are great. "Hot For Teacher" has the most interesting opening, a bit experimental before going to the well known riff on mandolin & guitar with violin taking up the vocal line via the creative playing of mandolin king David Grisman. The major problem, for those of us not bluegrass fans, is that due to the acoustic nature & style of bluegrass music each band sounds largely similar sans a few outings such as with Grisman. Though, on the other hand, tribute albums are often disjointed affairs with the differences in bands jarring the flow so this is also a positive. Other songs featured include: "I'll Wait", "Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love", "Feel Your Love Tonight", "Panama", "Unchained" & "& the Cradle Will Rock..."

Raymond Bally ~ Nature Of Love (album review) ... Unguarded music!

Style: experimental, folk, new age
Label: self-released
Year: 2009
Home: Sweden & New Jersey

Members: Raymond Bally ~ guitars/vocals
Hans Bally ~ guitars/b. vocals/keyboards/bass/percussion/sound effects

Additional: 70, Raymond Bally III ~ bass
Dennis Young ~ bass/percussion
Kevin Booth ~ b. vocals

A haunting slide guitar over an acoustic rhythm opens up this independent release by Raymond Bally. The folksy but gritty "Are You Afraid" that follows, with the sobering line "are you afraid/are you afraid of me", is the work of writer/singer Raymond Bally & multi-instrumentalist Hans Bally, unrelated, who met on myspace & live respectively in New Jersey & Sweden. The fascinating thing is that they've never met, getting physically no closer than a single telephone conversation, which makes this all that much more interesting a release. "I love you/I hate you/will you kiss me" (from "Will You Kiss Me"), "I call your name/floating further away/ nothing & no one to hold on to/Mother, where are you, where are you" (from "Echoes"), "I lay on her floor/unguarded ... it's nice down here/whatever you want to do is alright by me/I won't tell you how I feel/until its too late" (from "Unguarded") are some of the lyrics, from Raymond's pen, from this ten song collection but clearly represent the overall psychological shattered mellowness of this international musical effort. The electric guitars are often kept to a minimum, or lower in the mix then might be expected as the point is not for any instrument to shine but the entire hypnotic experience, instead opting for a foundation of acoustic guitars, albeit "Burning For You" is a distortion fest that could come out of early R.E.M. with "Echoes" not far behind. But, the acoustic foundation sounds anything but naked or cliché as the air is filled up with assorted twisted ethereal sounds by Hans from an array of instruments that even include distorted vocal effects. The layered instruments turn what could essentially be seen as folksy songs into a haunting mix of tortured emotions where the music is far more than just a rhythmic backdrop but an extension of the lyrics with the best similarity being in the some of the more intricate New Wave bands. "Ecstasy" is a particular highlight with long instrumental sections that bubble over into each other & taking dominance over brief echoing lyrics tucked into the mix with some great guitar playing that could by Trent Reznor if he went acoustic. While the album ends with the title track that's country guitar over some of the scarcest sounds yet including bird cries, organ & bongos & could have come out of the UK folk tradition of the 60's & provides a lovely near coda to the Raymond Bally. For linguistically simple but incredibly deep lyrics & a musical experiments full of unexpected twists Raymond Bally, who occasionally performs with his own band, has music well-worth checking out. 

Zsasz ~ Audio Pornography (album review) ... The nothing songs!

Style: experimental, indie
Label: self-released
Year: 2010
Home: Philadelphia

Members: Evan Hayford ~ all instruments

Pronounced zaz, rhyming with razz, Zsasz is the new breed of homespun musicians that modern technology is allowing to practice their art & spread their creativity like never before. It is this breed that includes Moby, who recorded his stuff in his mom's house, while its the same attitude that spurred the Sex Pistols. It's music of expression. It's music with no bounds, no commercial expectations &, in this case, no unreliable bandmates. It's music that dismantles all the foundations & tears down all the boundaries. Some people even say this approach goes far & destroys too much & becomes unlistenable. Perhaps, on some level, it is. But, so are many of the live bootlegs of the Velvet Underground with 30 minute chunks of sound given such 'deep' titles as "The Nothing Song." But, without that we'd never have Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" or the majestically tormented Magic & Loss. This collection was recorded during two years in New York & like the city it's gritty, in your face & undoubtedly moody & twisted. Sparse & minimalist is the feeling here, even when there's a cloud of distorted guitars, with the sense that the point is not to make a wall of impregnable sound. Quasi-sung stories/poetry, albeit "Your Body Is Familiar" is a spoken monologue through a distorted microphone & a highlight of the collection, over melodic guitars & a steady drumbeat go from echoing Black Flag to indie alt-rock. Though with only one song clocking in over two minutes the songs could be easily expanded because of few of the pieces straddle the abyss between being poetry ("On Your Knees") with beats or fully developed songs ("Headache"). Evan doesn't charge for his music, believing his music should be freely shared & is working on a concept album of serial killers. If he sticks to the darker elements evident on Audio Pornography it should be a twisted foray worth hearing.

Genesis ~ Calling All Stations (album review) ... Genesis returns to its proggy roots!

Style: progressive
Year: 1997
Label: Atlantic
Home: Britain

Members: Tony Banks ~ keyboards
Mike Rutherford ~ guitar
Ray Wilson ~ vocals

Additional: Nick D'Virgilio, Nir Zidkiyahu ~ drums

I grew up under the 80's Phil Collins-driven trio Genesis that was focused on commercial hits with more pop rock elements & lacking the experimental prog/art-rock that the band had been as a quintet with Steve Hackett & Peter Gabriel. I'd also always enjoyed Phil Colllins solo career through the introduction of my dad. The first CD I ever bought was a Phil Collins live album. So when I heard that Collins had left Genesis & was replaced by a very different type of singer I took interest, albeit for me Collins was synonymous with Genesis. I was a big prog-rock fan at the time & Calling All Stations was a return to the bands art-rock/proggy roots so I immediately loved it, not to mention the fact that the title track opens the album with a riffing distorted guitar probably never heard under Collins. The few hits ("Congo", "Shipwrecked" & "Not About Us") disguised an album full of extended moody songs more akin to Pink Floyd's The Division Bell than anything Genesis had done in decades. This unexpected change in sound, more than anything else about the album & new singer, is what probably caused it's lack of commercial success & the dismissal of singer Ray Wilson after this one outing. This is a good but not perfect movement away from the Phil Collins 80's pop sound, but sadly was never allowed to mature before the band temporarily broke up to later reunite with Hackett & Collins. It's the same thing that happened to Al Pitrelli when he joined Megadeth or Gary Cherone joining Van Halen. However good it could have been it never really got the chance & fans are left listening to an idea undeveloped. Where would Genesis have been if they'd decided after one album Phil Collins wasn't as good as Peter Gabriel? But, that's the short-term vision of the music industry. With songs clocking in an average of either 5 minutes or eight it's a dense album of hypnotic keyboard-heavy arrangements with the occasional dark guitar solo creating a much darker album than anything Collins dared do either in or out of the band. It's clean production cries out for commercial success, but the songs are not pop enough for that nor progressive enough to reach another audience. Further, Wilson is a far different singer than Collins & brings a whole new feeling to the bands with a deeper tone that's a bit edgier & I always found a more attractive listen, he's also better looking. To hear his interpretations of classic Genesis tunes in a live setting would be a welcomed addition to the Genesis catalog but probably will remain forever in the bootleg world. Undoubtedly Collin's personality was at the forefront of Genesis for over a decade, which Wilson could not replace & thus Calling All Stations is a band trying to work as a band again & stretching their wings in ways they hadn't done, not recording when it could fit between the solo careers of it's members. This is an album that, even in context of what came before, gravely deserves a second listen & re-evaluation.

Van Halen ~ Diver Down (album review) ... Only Van Halen can pull off a drowning trick worthy of Houdini!

Style: hard rock, heavy metal, 80's rock
Label: Warner Bros.
Year: 1982
Home: California

Members: David Lee Roth ~ vocals/harmonica/synthesizer/acoustic guitar
Eddie Van Halen ~ guitars/keyboards/b. vocals
Michael Anthony ~ bass/b. vocals
Alex Van Halen ~ drums

Guest: Jan Van Halen ~ clarinet/saxophones

 

An unmentioned rule of thumb for an album's success is that all the songs share some sort of similar musical thread. People buy an album expecting to hear a particular sound. You don't typically record a classical song next to ska or if you do there's some bridge in between allowing the record to rise & fall, nor is Metallica about to include a 16 minute slow blues jam on their next through-the-roof-heavy metal album. Albeit, I say this as Jeff Beck releases an album featuring Puccini & blues-rock & the result is successful. Diver Down is a cornucopia of songs by one of everyone's favorite 80's troubadours that flows more like a mixed-bag greatest hits album or a rarities/B-sides compilation. The latter being the more likely as this isn't particularly strong on hits. This is the opposite of the later For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge which is one pounding in your face song after another which basically all sound alike, while also being the opposite of VH's debut which is a bar band being unleased on the world & burning up the stage in the process. This is an experienced highly polished & super successful band doing some unusual covers in unusual ways ("Oh, Pretty Woman", "Dancing In The Street", "Happy Trails," The Kinks' "Where Have All The Good Times Gone" & "Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)") along with some one-minute instruments ("Cathedral", "Intruder" & "Little Guitars (Intro)") & a meager five originals. It's almost as if they didn't have enough originals to make a full album, but yet this doesn't sound sloppy or haphazardly or quickly thrown together. But, then, VH has never made an album that didn't sound like much care, effort & time was put into it, even when the results weren't particularly successful. Further, each song is so different that they actually highlight each member. Roth gets some nice slow rockers to just enjoy singing to ... though sans his crazy vocal pyrotechnics. Eddie enjoys a few rare instrumentals ... which are experimental oddities, including two acoustic only pieces ("Big Bad Bill" & "Little Guitars (Intro)"), though he's done far better with countless other songs just on the arrangements alone. As for the rhythm section ... they've never been particularly fancy & as always lay down the steady rhythm they are good at albeit a bit slower. There's even a vaudevillian number ("Big Bad Bill") featuring Eddie strumming away on a jazz style acoustic guitar & with his dad on clarinet ... one of the strangest songs you'll ever hear from VH, though I'm sure it made dad happy. Only to have it all end on the vocal only "Happy Trails" ... which might even be stranger than "Big Bad Bill". None of the songs are particular rockers, while the instrumentals never are able to sound like more than short mood-setting fillers you might hear on a Satriani album. Diver Down is full of catchy little tunes that might have landed on the radio, but VH isn't really VH when not putting the pedal to the floor. It's a fun album of light party hits & that's exactly what it's supposed to be & for that exceeds incredibly well. On repeated listens it isn't that bad ... for a museum piece ... an interesting exhibition of a party band taking it easy. The highlight of taking it easy are the covers, a great original under played ballad called "Secrets" ... & as always the earth-shattering guitar solos. By any other band this album might be a dead weight but these guys are just too good & it shows.

Coffin Fuck ~ Fucks Christmas (live) (album review) ... Wait till they get ahold of the other holidays!

Style: comedy, live, holiday, death metal
Label: self-released
Year: 2009
Home: New Jersey

Members: Chris 'Mandroid' Lemoine - lead vocals/harmonica/voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer/elves
Matt Van Dongen ~ guitar/voice of Santa Claus
AJ 'CorpsePenis' Tedeschi ~ drums/voices of Frosty the Snowman/elves/Neil Young/Mrs. Claus

Guests: Steve Thompson ~ voice of the manager/elves

"It's the most wonderful time of the year" sung in the most throaty growl, think Dethklok, with a distorted guitar slashing away behind it, sounds just as terrible as it reads here & Coffin Fuck do it terribly wonderful in this holiday outing. Following the tradition of rock operas by fellow Xmas carolers Trans-Siberian Orchestra, albeit sans anything Christian, charitable or decent, the album opens with Spinal Tap-esque banter with the band discovering the news they've been hired for "25K" by Santa as a Meat Loaf cover band. The ensuing concert for the elves, with guest appearances by Santa, his North Pole associates & for some mysterious reason Neil Young, is anything but Meat Loaf but gnarly Xmas carolers that take a page out of the Nunslaughter handbook. One guitar plays the melody line while the rest of the band goes into distorted double bass smashing rhythms that sound alike in every song, the only thing not destroyed are the traditional lyrics. It's not a real live recording, well, as much as the elves are real but its so wild & riotous that for every band that ever wanted to capture their stage energy in the studio ... they should take a page from the Coffin Fuck handbook. It's loud, it's obnoxious, it's barely musical. As for the rest of the story, which is really the whole incentive to listening to the album ... the jokes are juvenile & often more embarrassing than anything, let alone featuring a horrible Neil Young impersonation, but the band never sound like they're not having a good time, well, an extremely trashy good time & there's no denying this is an elaborate affairs of numerous overdubs & a script. But, that's exactly the point for these holidays joy makers. They wanted to make some music but also go crazy. While, this is not for the faint of heart or overly mature. As for how it ends ... well, Santa offered 25 candy canes, not 25K, he offers toys instead but a grown man can't drink toys. For those who are curious, Coffin Fuck are responsible for the truly successful Xmas single "Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer", which my grandma actually used to enjoy to the dread of my aunt.

Theo Cedar Jones' Swaybone ~ Life On Earth (album review) ... Adi Da Samraj guru rock!

Style: hard rock, religious
Label: self-released
Year: 2010
Home: California

Members: Theo Cedar Jones ~ vocals/guitar
Dennis Reyes ~ bass
Oliver Zelada ~ drums
Giovani Maganzi ~ guitar

 

It's not Christian rock. It's not Satanic death metal at the other end of the spectrum. It's something a little different that's a bit of a child on its own. It's guru rock ... sort of, for lack of a better term. Inspired by the American-born religious teacher/writer Parama-Sapta Na Adi Da Love-Ananda Samraj, Swaybone has put the goal before them of making good music, spreading Adi Da Samraj's teachings & creating a better world following an ideology based on ego-transcendence, prior unity & a global cooperative forum, all aptly summarized by the title of World-Teacher Adi Da Samraj's book "Not-Two Is Peace" which is also one of the songs on the album. I've circulated with this particular group for some years now & have often asked, sadly to no avail, if any of the musicians in it's world-wide community were doing something more on the rock or metal fringe & not just the classical, folksy, Indian & world-rhythms which seem to dominate the group's musical forays drawing from the group's Hindu roots. Actually, I once felt like I was being laughed at for suggesting that narcissistic rock music could meld with an ego transcending religion. Finding Swaybone, spearheaded with great zeal by devotee Theo Cedar Jones, I finally have my answer that it is possible & that somebody is brave enough to chart these new waters! I'm glad someone has seen the potential of melding popular music with the teachings of Adi Da Samraj, which can reach out to people that the other styles of music are missing out on connecting with. For those a bit unsure of heavy religious music in general & expecting something akin to the druggy forays of Yes or the Grateful Dead ... not quite. There is a hint of some 60's prog rock with Swaybone but the instrumental indulgence is kept to a minimum allowing the vocals to take focus. While Swaybone is firmly in the contemporary indie rock market a few wild electric guitar solos thrown in, particularly shining over a couple stand-out acoustic tracks, keep things upbeat & energetic & not falling into maudlin worship songs. In terms of lyrics maybe, on some level, Swaybone is more like Neil Young or Bob Dylan who, having also written their fare share of religious songs, keep the lyrics in the forefront & the musical flights of fancy to a minimum instead relying on interesting arrangements & rhythms. Death metal bands could take a page from the Swaybone book as their throat warbling screaming isn't helping spread their message of Armageddon. You can sing along with Swaybone & it's makes a difference. Let alone singing a chorus that includes the line "Not-two is peace" is an enjoyable linguistic experience for the tongue while the mind figures out the meaning of the quasi-mysterious phrase. I was recently discussing hard rock song lyrics with a fellow musician & Swaybone is definitely on the road to proving that one doesn't need to always sing about partying, sex & drugs or other banal subjects to rock out. Though, while Swaybone tries to brave new frontiers, the foreign subject matter is also a brickwall built by their own hand. Working in a record store I find a lot people turn away from Christian rock because they aren't Christians without giving the the music a chance. Swaybone may find itself faced with the same shallow prejudice. They know this already & I'm sure they find the challenge of toppling the wall the drive that keeps them going.

Lita Ford ~ Lita (album review) ... The runaway back in action with sexuality to spare!

Style: hard rock
Label: RCA
Year: 1988
Home: Caribbean

Members: Lita Ford ~ guitar/vocals
Craig Krampf ~ guitar
David Ezrin ~ keyboards
Don Nossov ~ bass
Myron Grombacher ~ drums
Llory McDonald, Mike Chapman ~ b. vocals

It had been a long time since I listened to this album in a desire to bring some more women into the blog. It's not that I've deliberately ignored women rockers, but there's only so many out there in the metal world. I used to enjoy Lita & the whole sexy rocker image, but I'll confess that I had forgotten just how radio friendly she is. This isn't raw, dark, heavy or blazing any musical trails. Her punkish Runaway roots are long forgotten having been traded in for the most cliched & shallow 80's love songs one can find that end up sounding dated behind a sheen of over glossy production. Albeit, one of the the highlights is "Under The Gun" which is the darkest & least dated sounding song, even given the heavy 80's keyboards. But, all that being said, it's hard not to enjoy this album as it spins through the songs. For an album with song after song of love ballads that bring out the best, albeit most cliched, of the 80's, this is a hard album to beat. This is also Lita's best album with a handful of hits including: "Back To The Cave", "Can't Catch Me", "Kiss Me Deadly" & "Falling In And Out Of Love". Then, there's the highlight that made the album, "Close Your Eyes Forever", featuring Lita's classic duet with Ozzy Osbourne that boosted both their solo careers. Sadly, one of the weaker spots of this album is Lita herself. Her singing style is less about singing & more about an style, akin to Alice Cooper. What makes her is the sexy rocker chic gimmic, being the 80's version of her Runways singer Cherie Curie. But, once the gimmic wears off the weakness of the album & her act shows through, made worse by the fact that her guitar playing skills become lost in the mix. But, for a brief moment it's all quite enjoyable & nostalgic & even romantic.

Million Dollar Mouth ~ The panicKING (album review) ... No panicking allowed!

Style: hard rock, alt rock
Label: Atonal Records
Year: 2010
Home: Los Angeles, California

Members: Mike Biscotti ~ vocals
Mary S. ~ keyboards/b. vocals
Vanja Andrin ~ guitars
80 ~ bass
Kris Keane ~ drums

My first thought hearing this band was the Killers but with a lot more punk, albeit a wall of sound like the Stone Temple Pilots but the same indie pop & sexual attitude of both of them. I'll confess that when MDM came recommended to me I knew after a brief listen they didn't have the hard rock edge that I typically listen for in potential reviews, let alone I don't listen to a lot of the alt rock that seems to have become a majority of bands today ... to the joy of teenage girls everywhere. But, listening to a smattering of tunes from The PanicKING by MDM I enjoyed their music so much that, try as might to ignore them & write them off as not workable for this blog's range, I kept listening to their songs again & again. They may not be the hard rock I gravitate to, but they have an interesting sound which is the other requirement of this blog. I often talk to friends about will happen when the 80's icons, like U2, are gone. Who will pick up the pen & compose the next "With Or Without You", let alone create a musical sound based on something more than a handful of sloppy chords & a heart attack in three notes, plus provide a listening alternative to the transparent dance beats that crawl up the music charts with playful abandon only to be abandoned months later? A band like MDM demonstrates that there are bands out there still trying to create something emotional, lyrically interesting & with a dynamic musical wall of unpredictable nuances, let alone a collection of songs that don't all sound alike. MDM have a wave like experimental sound that reminds me of something between Live & the Killers, but without the musical excess of either, with heart-felt lyrics crooned out by tenor Mike Biscotti, with the occasional wah-wah distorted guitar solo thrown in over odd changes that could come from a Bowie album or an instrumental context might be mistaken for a Skid Row tune. I could easily see this band performing on MTV. They fit perfectly as one of the current saviors of popular music. 

Nunslaughter ~ Devil Metal (live) (album review) ... Music your mother would like, if she was burning in hell!

Style: death metal, black metal, live, satanic
Label: Hell Attacks Productions
Year: 2001
Home: Ohio

Members: Don of the Dead ~ vocals
Jim Sadist ~ drums
Megiddo, Duaniac ~ guitars
Insidious, Grim ~ bass

Next to a bootleg this probably has some of the worst production on a live album I've ever heard. But, the concert is actually very good & the bad production values almost make it that much more of an authentic listening experience ... considering Nunslaughter tends to have some pretty bad production values on their studio albums as it is they sound here just like they always do. Isn't a band supposed to sound the same on stage as they do off? Isn't that what everyone wants? For a band of such a venomous & insulting image & message the concert is surprisingly very personal with lots of easy-going almost jestful banter by Don of the Dead in between every song that makes this seem more like a friendly gathering than one of the heaviest & most Satanic bands on the scene for over two decades. For the song "Satanic", which lasts a mere 40 seconds, Don says afterwards "that's the worst song ever written, that's horrible, don't ever ask for that again". In some ways every song in their repertoire is the worst song ever written, right up there with the unmusical early forays of Mayhem. It doesn't help that most songs average 1-2 minutes & there's no guitar solos or anything that might typically be considered a solo. It's almost like an satirical odd joke right out of This Is Spinal Tap. It makes the concert that much better because however bad it all is this is no obscure garage band. These guys take their music very seriously, considering they're never going to be a commercial success they've got to be inner driven. While, it's undoubtedly obvious these guys have way too much fun at what they do. Someone take away their handmade Satanic ID cards. Where's Anton LaVey when you need him? Devil Music features excerpts from two concerts with two different line-ups which has enough of an effect on the music that at times it sounds like two different bands, both equally obnoxious musically. Part of the highlight of the concert is the banter, including such childish cries by Don as "let's move along quickly cause evil is fast", "you fuckin' grave robbin' freaks" & the delightful "let's fuck a witch." There's even an audience member that yells out "I hate my parents too", which belays the probable youth of the audience, somewhere around 21, while one can tell with the sound of applause that neither concert is attended by more than a few dozen people, that's assuming that all of the audience is applauding & not stunned into devilish silence by Don's menacing stare. It's such a fun concert that by the end of the album you won't notice the bad production so much, or even that it was probably recorded in a tiny club that didn't offer much in the way of good recording abilities or acoustics. This is actually a more interesting recording than the studio album Hell's Unholy Fire from which many of the songs were taken as the rawness of the venue suits the band. For many bands live albums do not do them justice, while other bands, most famously the Doors, are better live than in the studio. This band sounds here exactly what it is - no pretentiousness, not very serious, Satanism is evil but also fun, with pure insane playing with no technical fireworks. Actually, I kinda want to see them when they come to town after hearing this concert. It's that fascinating a listen. Yes, I expect some readers to turn away seeing this review due to the Satanic implications of the music, poseurs or not. But, I figure metalheads won't mind or even care, let alone are used to it as Satanic imagery & ideas proliferate metal. Further, I'm not endorsing Satan worship. My goal is to introduce the entire spectrum of metal. The Satanic branch is a small but important aspect of the metal family tree, even if the bands are probably just posing. Though, all things aside, I find I can't help but enjoy Nunslaughter every time I hear them. For all their blasphemy they make good straight-ahead metal of the purest kind. Albeit, according to the Satanic Bible the most Satanic music is that which is original & individual, for example: the Beach Boys. Given the Beach Boys as the litmus test these guys have a long way to go to live up to their image. Consider that one!