In order to enjoy a Macabre album, any Macabre album, you have to wear your Macabre hat. The Macabre hat is one crazy son of a bitch
hat, and it is extremely bloody.
I'm wearing that hat right now and I'm loving it.
As always, the mad trio from Chicago present the unsuspecting listeners to
authentic stories of gore, depravity and pure murderous madness. This time, the
stories are not taken from recent history, but over a span of several hundreds
years of world history.
And as usual, nothing is straight-ahead in the world of Corporate Death,
Nefarious and Dennis the Menace. Death metal it is. But it is certainly also
grind, punk, thrash, folk, rock, polka and nursery rhymes. Yessir, this album is
just as over the top as anything you'd expect from Macabre. From the outset, the
three murder freaks unleash the steel with Locusta (a murderess who in the first
century's Rome specialised in poison). This is of course followed by a nursery
rhyme-ish polka tune with the occasional spin of the double bass drum pedals
about the mad Roman emperor Nero.
More grinding steel follows, and more nursery rhymes. Insane melody intervowen
with blast beats. Rocking drive and pure, straight-on killer grind. Even a Venom
cover has found its place here - I suppose if Countess Bathory didn't fit into
this company of mad butchers, then who would?
Some days, this is too much. Not all days are Macabre days. That's just the way
it is.
However way you turn it, my hat is off to Macabre for doing this insane thing
since 1985 and still being up for a true challenge of our ears. They are unique
- both as musicians and as entertainers. They write incredibly heavy music.
And they write really odd music. Any fan of metal music should try Macabre at
least once in their life time, that's just my opinion. So, if you haven't
already been there, this is a good place to begin - you might even learn a thing
or two about the history of insane killings!
