Melvins - The Bride Screamed Murder
Ipecac Recordings
Experimental Hard Rock, Sludge
9 songs (45:37)
Release year: 2010
Melvins, Ipecac Recordings
Reviewed by Goat

As surely as day follows night and night follows day, a new Melvins album is upon us, and as fans will have come to expect, there’s very little on the band’s twenty-first full-length that isn’t excellent. Whether you follow each and every Melvins release or not, they’re the kind of band that manage to produce something worthy of your ears whenever they enter the studio, and The Bride Screamed Murder is yet another argument in their favour as one of the greatest underground rock bands ever. Again joined by the Big Business duo, King Buzzo and Dale Crover are more than on fire, and the four-piece duly get on with the business of rocking your socks, although as fans of last effort Nude With Boots will note, they’ve taken a step away from the catchiness of (A) Senile Animal in favour of more prog-rocky oddness.

It’s obvious that Coady Willis and Jared Warren have been an influence, as there’s as much group chanting and forlorn melody as there are stomping riffs and thunderous drumming. Opener The Water Heart kicks the album off in style, bringing the noise with stomp and thunder as the double drummers provide a tumultuous backing to varied call-and-response vocals from all. As fun as it is to listen to, it’s clearly even more fun to play, and the band take their time with it, switching to an almost militaristic chant that flows well into the opening percussion of Evil New War God, itself an enjoyably doom anthem. Quirk rules the day, as ever, yet the double drumming is always written around well – Pig House especially uses both to perfection behind cheery punked-up Sabbathian riffage– and in terms of vocals the band is more original and enjoyable than ever.

I defy anyone to not enjoy the lazy, meandering Stoner riffs of I’ll Finish You Off, complete with high-pitched group vocals and backing organ, or the strange tension of uptempo riff machine Electric Flower. Hospital Up’s squealing is a jarring interlude before the chaotic Inhumanity And Death storms in like Sonic Youth playing grindcore, switching abruptly between grooving catchiness and feedback-filled jazzy oddness. There’s a suitably deranged cover of My Generation, set at a crawling pace, and the closing melancholic harmonica and gospel-esque singing of P.G. x 3 makes for an oddly affecting finale. As ever, you’re struck by the sheer range of what has just entered your ears, and as ever, it’ll take a good few listens before it really makes sense. I don’t think The Bride Screamed Murder will be remembered as one of the band’s best albums, but neither will it be forgotten – it’s hard to immediately think of a bad Melvins album, and like its predecessors, this deserves a place on your shelf.

MySpace
Killing Songs :
The Water Heart, Pig House, I’ll Finish You Off, Electric Flower, Inhumanity And Death, My Generation
Goat quoted 83 / 100
Other albums by Melvins that we have reviewed:
Melvins - Everybody Loves Sausages reviewed by Goat and quoted no quote
Melvins - Freak Puke reviewed by Goat and quoted 74 / 100
Melvins - Stag reviewed by Crash and quoted 86 / 100
Melvins - Lysol reviewed by Phil and quoted no quote
Melvins - Nude With Boots reviewed by Goat and quoted 87 / 100
To see all 7 reviews click here
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