Album Review: Melvins – Nude With Boots

Melvins – Nude With Boots
Ipecac – IP105P – 8 July 2008

If ever a band has remained criminally overlooked by the masses through a long, prolific and consistently excellent career (that has been in a steamrolling motion since 1983), than its the Melvins. Hugely influential to a multitude of rock and metal bands, inspiring everything from grunge to drone, their refusal to settle into a single niche has afforded them brief flirtations with the mainstream. The Melvins‘ enduring legacy may be their impact on a fledgling Seattle rock scene in the late 80s, early 90s, the scene’s most prominent martyr Kurt Cobain acting as something of a protege of the band initially, before eventually using the weight of Nirvana’s explosion with Nevermind to secure Melvins with a 3-album stint with major label Atlantic. The Melvins were alwyas too predictable and downright odd to sell millions of records to angsty gen X-ers, however, even if there were always potential radio-friendly hits buried within the gruelling sludge, twisted Sabbath-isms and general rock weirdness that is their forte.

In 2001 the band finally found a stable home with Mike Patton’s Ipecac label. Their past few albums have been quite streamlined by their standards, with ’06’s (A) Senile Animal perhaps their most accessible record since Houdini. Nude With Boots continues this trend, building on the critical acclaim of its predecessor. Notable about both Nude... and …Senile Animal has been the annexation of kindred upstarts Big Business into the bass, drumming and backing vocal fold, which means there are doubled up drums in the mix to give the listener an extra pounding. The backing vocals of Jarod Warren meanwhile add a great compliment to Buzz Osbourne’s familiar roar, the layered style adding a bizarrely operatic effect at times. Nude With Boots is stylistically similar to (A) Senile Animal, and there is a little deja vu going on here, but repeated spins prove rewarding as it really takes a few listens for this album to get under the skin. ‘The Kicking machine’ has a distinct 70s flavour, like Led Zeppelin dragged through a ditch backwards or something. ‘Billy Fish’ is something of a nod to the Houdini/Stoner Witch days as a ctachy, mid-paced rock-out, with the multi-percussive element proving devastating in this instance. As before, Jarod’s contributions are a great accompaniment to Buzz’s vocals – they’re slightly similar actually, but less gruff and thus add a melodic air to things. Think of Jerry Cantrell’s vocals to Layne Stayley’s in Alice in Chains.

Melvins have never made things too easy for the listener of course, and the ominous ‘Dies Irae’ is typical of this tendency, invoking Ennio Morricone’s spaghetti western soundtracks through a minimalist dirge. ‘It Tastes Better than the Truth’ is like a nightmarish mantra of sorts, as squawking guitar shapes and menacing screams and yells; it’s repetetive, loud and obnoxious the way a Melvins closer should be really. For the most past, though, Nude With Boots is comprised of standard issue Melvins rockers such as ‘Suicide in Progress’ that are always a treat to the ears. It rarely strays into the kind of out there weirdness that has often bemused listeners in the past (their collaboration with Lustmord a few years ago had a 20 minute track of incessant repetetion to fuck you up), it’s concise and to the point. It’s unlikely to have the critical impact of (A) Senile Animal, as it’s essentially more of the same, but it’s the Melvins and therefore rocks the fuck out of everything. So there.

Official Melvins Website
Official Melvins MySpace
Official Ipecac Website

Album Review: Graveyard Dirt – Shadows of Old Ghosts

Graveyard Dirt – Shadows of Old Ghosts
Self Released – 29 September 2007

These Irish doomsters have something of a complicated history. Originally forming way back in ‘94, their first demo Of Romance and Fire was released in ‘95. Having piqued the interest of German label Ars Metalli, they were signed the following year with a view to a debut album. A series of setbacks, including guitarist David Reilly’s sustaining an arm injury, led to the band’s dissolution before they ever managed to realise their potential. Cut to 2005, and Graveyard Dirt have reformed. Of Romance and Fire has been re-released, and the band have decided to enter the studio to finally record some of the material that was intended for that elusive debut full-length. Shadows of Old Ghosts is the result, a 34 minute, 3-track EP. As it turns out, we’ve all been missing out bigtime with their absence, as Graveyard Dirt have crafted a work of magisterial brilliance that not only entrenches them firmly within the upper echelons of doom’s considerable heirarchy, but actually surpasses many of their better contemporaries in the process.

The main riff motif that dominates the first 4 minutes of ‘Rise…Fallen Skies’ is sublime; effortlessly invoking that simultaneously uplifting and downtrodden beauty that typifies the best doom. Their sound could best be likened to British scene of the early 90s – Anathema (think Crestfallen and The Silent Enigma as opposed to Judgement), My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost. There’s a tinge of the dark romanticism that typifies those bands too, although it’s delivered in a less overtly hammy fashion. Each of the 3 tracks on offer shift through myriad moods and tempos, yet the familiar dirge of this genre is omnipresent. Paul Leydon gives a spirited performance behind the mic, his combination of throaty roars and whispered spoken word passages like a cross between Darren White and Aaron Stainthorpe.

Since some bands have made it their business to create the slowest, least listenable dirges in the world, Graveyard Dirt have instead concentrated on creating memorable songs. A warm, textured production baths each track in an audible but no less gritty light, and is short of being overly clinical. ‘A Tearless Lament’ highlights this nicely, as a spoken word and intricate, clean guitar midsection launches back into a crushing dirge, and the effect is nothing short of epic. ‘Gathering Storm’ is just as its name suggests, as a calculated build up morphs into a violent climax, whilst it utilises piano and string flourishes to great effect. Shadows of Old Ghosts is thus a lovingly constructed and excellently wirrten piece of work, and as all good EPs should, its brief length leaves you gasping for more. Those of you bored to tears by My Dying Bride’s dreary A Line of Deathless Kings need to hear this, as Graveyard Dirt could show those old dogs about how vital doom should sound these days. And labels? You let these guys release this independently? For shame!

Official Graveyard Dirt MySpace