Drop Dead, Gorgeous
In Vogue
Rise Records
I’m very impressed by the lead singer’s screaming skills. I think that’s the work of Danny Stills, but the liner notes are unclear. I’m a bit more vague on his singing, but this guy can rip his own vocal chords out and wrap them around a microphone. Drop Dead, Gorgeous pounds out fully-saturated metal, with scant references to tone or melody. Listening to them is a chore, even when they slip in little pieces of calm piano or normal singing voice, like in the last half of “Knife Vs Face Round 1.”
What this record does have to recommend it is an interesting line of song lyrics. If you could hear the lyrics, this would be a concept album about a failed romance leading to violent assault, a trip to the ER and a murder charge. This is all spelled out clearly in the CD liner, but hearing the words is beyond my ancient ears. Still, it’s the most coherent song set I’ve ever run into on a metal album, but I honestly wouldn’t have had a clue without reading the liner notes. There’s an opera lurking in this disc, and if a fat woman screamed it, they’d show it at the Met. As it stands, this gruesome story remains in the provenance of all you death metal kids. Enjoy it while you can.
Rise Records: http://www.riserecords.com
