Search - Eyehategod :: In The Name of Suffering

"Not knowing if you'll live much longer gives you the freedo

The Dilettante | 09/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am not surprised that the reviews are so polarized. 15 years after its release, this remains one of the most challenging albums ever recorded. Musically simple -even naive- the brilliance of this record is the way it captures the tragic aesthetic of the trailer park. This is a terrifying, agonizing record about poverty, racism, drug addiction, and spousal abuse. Unlike the dungeons and dragons crap that seems to obsess most heavy metal bands, EHG forces the listener to a very real world of toothless methheads, broken veterans, bad acid trips and redneck superstitions.



It's every bit as ugly as punk bands like Man Is The Bastard or Drop Dead, but (unlike those bands) there's also a musicality here that sticks with you. ITNOS crosses the monstrous heaviness of the Melvins with the raw sloppiness of early Black Flag, but under it all is a solid foundation of classic bluesy southern rock. The second album, "Take as Needed for Pain" is better, but just barely.



And, for my money, Mike Williams is the best frontman in the history of punk. Like GG Allin, he was (and is) constantly getting injured, wasted, and incarcerated. But, like Bukowski, his self-destruction is self-conscious and highly literate. Williams grins back at the abyss with a cheerful enthusiasm, as if to say: "you can't hurt me as much as I can."



Through the chaos, EHG has barely been able to put out a record every 5 years, and I think this earliest work is by far their best. So, I am happy that this record has just been remastered and rereleased. The production was always pretty good for a record of this kind, but the remaster totally blows out the low-end.



The reissue also includes the band's 1990 demo, the original versions of four tracks that were rerecorded for this record. These are mostly of historical interest, since they sound like they were recorded from single clock radio speaker. Still, that's sort of this band's style, so diehards will be pleased."