The Melvins
The Maggot
Ipecac
I fondly remember the first time I heard the Melvins. It was at a popular rawk festival. They started off their set with King Buzzo announcing “We’re gonna give you a headache.” This is metal the way only the Melvins can do it. It’s the second album on Mike Patton’s Ipecac label. The Melvins are possibly one of the most uncompromising rock bands around. It’s impossible to try to pin them down. For some bizarre reason, all of the songs on this CD are separated into two tracks. This album goes from the pounding, industrial dirge “AMAZON” to the almost thrashy “amazon” (yes, they are different songs.) There’s an old tour favorite (supposedly), a cover of “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown)” by Fleetwood Mac. “The Horn Bearer” is tribal. Loud, repetitive and distorted. I have to be one of the few people that miss all the noisy, experimental bits. But then again, I have more than one Merzbow CD. This is the part one of the new trilogy. This one is “metal.” The next two albums are “slow” and “experimental”. Yummy.
Ipecac Recordings, PO Box 1197, Alameda, CA 94501; ipecacrec@aol.com
