Search - Melvins :: Bride Screamed Murder

Great new record, want to see it performed live!

RubberZ | TN | 06/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, I'll admit I am biased, I'm a huge fan of the Melvins current lineup with Jared and Coady, Buzzo and Dale. I was incredibly happy with A Senile Animal, Nude with Boots didn't hit me in the same place, but is a good listen, The Bride Screamed Murder takes things to another level though, start to finish I listened transfixed.



The intro track The Water Glass as mentioned previously has a blistering military cadence section that I can only imagine being perfromed live with both drummers, and he album finsihes with the unsettling, but oddly beautiful P.G. X 3



If you have enjoyed recent releases with the current lineup, I highly recommend you give this one a try. If you thought they were OK but love The Melvins in general, I'd still say it's a buy because IMO it may be their best release in many years."

Another Heap of Melvins

Snow Leopard | Urbana, IL | 06/08/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For the Melvins to do an odd album, it would probably have to be a techno-rave, keyboard only something with no vocals. That said, this is one of the Melvins odder albums, and it may take a few listens to get used to it, but the effort is worth it.



"The Water Glass," at 4'16", kicks things off with one of those seemingly-in-an-odd-time-signature power-chord crunch fests for about a minute, collapses into a nice big heap of mayhem ... then turns suddenly, and pretty much literally, into an army march callback (including the "huuuus"), albeit with not quite military lyrics. Well, there's a bit of a drum solo first, then the callbacks. It's of course pretty amusing and, with usual Melvins self-indulgence, probably goes on longer than it needs to, but after a few listens to the album, it's pretty groovy. The only decision is, is the water glass half full or half empty then?



"Evil New War God," at 4'48" once again kicks off with more power chords, crunching away gloriously with Buzz howling in the center of the mix somewhere, coming up every occasionally on something like chorus chords for a breath of fresh air. Then at approximately 1'40 the riff shifts into an even chuggier, more compelling guitar thing and one of those wily throw-away guitar solos Buzz is so good at. And then, at 3'00", everything falls apart into a drum/power chord callback session with a death metal horror theme of some sort just to round out the song. So, that's two songs that are both more than one song smashed interestingly together. The Melvins have been doing this a long time, and they're surprisingly good at it. What's interesting is how they somehow make the parts seem like they belong together.



Pig House, at 5'29", kicks off with more drums, followed by a semi-heavy squirrely guitar line that ambles around to the accompaniment of something like full band harmonies. At 2'19" the song seems to forget what it's doing, stumbles back toward the opening rift, then veers instead into the Melvin's version of anthemic arena rock. Like "The Water Glass," where the lyrics declared they were ready to go, here they run, "We started, but now we're running away" with some more militaryish snares and something like a guitar solo. This quiets down to just drums, whistling, and "a-oos" to make for a a rather haunting ending.



"I'll Finish You Off", at 4'57", starts off with a very different sounding, oozy riff sludged underneath by super bass, then opens up into another almost arena, anthemic, wide open slow grind fest. The vocals here are especially neat, rolling over the top of a wall of sound and slipping (deliberately) in and out of key before the guitar solo pokes through the mix like a plushie icepick and wrings itself out (no, really). Somehow this slides into a giant Gothic mood, reaching the slowest tempo of the album so far. Big poundy drums finish things off, and then there's some aimless noodling and a "My Sharona" lick coupled with "my generation" as a warning of things to come.



But first, "Electric Flower," at 3'27", starts off with a bass line much like Sky Pup (from Houdini), but more crunched up. And in fact even the harmonies here sound Houdini-era, for those wanting a throw-back.



"Hospital Up," at 5'38", is the power ballad of sorts, if this is a metal album. Ambling around in a kind of stoner flow fuzz, around three minutes it picks up a bit. Some really nice heavy bass in here. At 4'00", the free jazz begins as it were for piano, drums, and deflating balloon, because that's how the Melvins do a power ballad. It's all about the noise.



"Inhumanity and Death," at 3'03", kicks off with high-hat splashes to wipe away the free jazz, and then a huge, deep bass grind with (you just know there's a fed-back guitar coming in ... sometimes the Melvins manage to be predictable) ... and we're off, another uptempo grinder that hearkens back to an older Melvins sound, but with a whole bunch more production. However, that only lasts 50 seconds before a variation kicks in with a screaming-nasty guitar solo smearing over the top of things for not long enough. That's about a minute, then there's another drum section intro and yet a third sort-of variation on the opening riff. Then a full stop, a few bass drum thumps ... done. It's this kind of song, almost incomprehensibly put together but nevertheless really workable, that earns the Melvins critical acclaim.



"My Generation," at 7'39", is the slowest howl-anthem on the album. Like Nevermore's cover of "The Sound of Silence," the lyrics are basically intact, while the music is not the same at all--though the bass-heaviness of the line points back to Entwistle's great work on this track. The vocals are group slurred (and do resemble the original). There's something surprisingly relevant about aging punk-metal monsters covering this song. A really smart cover choice. And the lyrics give way to a huge, rather eerie, and certainly epic space jam.



Last, "P.G. x 3", at 6'19", closes the album. This is apparently three versions of "Peggy Gordon" (a Canadian folk tune). The first version has the melody on harmonica, rather haunting after the end of the last song. But then there's a full-on, straight up, super-echoed a capella version of the song. Unlikely as it may be, this may be the first time the Melvins may ever come close to pulling a tearjerker, but the singing is haunting and beautiful. And followed by an Acid Mothers Temple-scale guitar version that further adds to the pathos, blending into a counting child, feedback, and then the same child(?) pitch-shifted down and sticking on the number four ultimately before fuzz-delaying to infinity. A truly remarkable album closer--probably the Melvin's most haunting song ever, not usually an adjective one associates with them.



One last note about the album overall ... it really hangs together. All the odd bits add up to something bigger, just like in a Melvins song. It might take a few listens, but this is a disc to really get into.

"

Very solid load

io loki | New York City, USA | 06/02/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Slow and heavy. Guitar work reminiscent of Gluey Porch Treatments. Drums loud, heavy, dominating. Widest range of the Melvins sound on one album, from the heavy to the "weird." A touch of Mike Patton in there somewhere.



This is not quite on the level of Bullhead, but it is up there, especially the first 5 songs. The only problem with this album is that it leaves me wanting more.



My ratings are based on other Melvins songs. So a 5 means one of the best Melvins songs; 3 is an average Melvins song.



The Water Glass

Melvins marching song

4 stars



Evil New War God

Solid Melvins heaviness with a Fantomas ending

4 stars



Pig House

Melvins doing Fantomas doing a marching song

4 stars



I'll Finish You Off

Gluey porch treatments at its slowest best. Close your eyes and meditate to this one.

5 stars



Electric Flower

Uptempto, sludging, layered vocals, complex, leaves you wanting more

4 stars



Hospital Up

Mellow song, could be off of Stag

3 stars, but may grow on you



Inhumanity And Death

Fast, thrashy, essentially a musical interlude

3 stars



My Generation

Slow, heavy, good, but not the best cover the Melvins have produced

3 stars, but may grow on you



P.G. x 3

Is that a harmonica? Is that a hymn? Epic guitar solo? A child counting? Has an eerie feel of

Delirium Cordia by Fantomas.

4 stars (if you like this song, Delirium Cordia)"