By John Bedard
Well, this is a lot different than I was expecting. We are a little out of the genres I usually lurk with this one so this is my first introduction to Macabre and I really was not sure what I was getting into. I will say I was not expecting something quite this dark. Everything is just a little bit crazy and I have to say I kinda liked it. It is not something that will appeal to everyone that is for sure but to the right person, this is a lot of fun.
Lyrically there is this total insanity in every track with an obvious murder fetish delivered with this kind of glee that has an oddly discomforting comedy to it making it quite entertaining. After about 16 tracks it can get a little overwhelming with the whole murder theme. On the other hand, having 16 tracks in one album is really welcome and with clever writing, I can’t knock it too much for the theme. They really are able to make you connect with this campy comedic feel to the whole murder theme. The spin on “the wheels on the bus” making it about Ted Bundy and his bug was gold.
Vocally, things keep with the same level of high production value. Shifting into many different styles from spoken to shouted to a traditional death metal scream to a deranged crazy scream all fitting into the whole theme of the album perfectly and managing to give the tracks a bit of evolution even if at many times it does still get a bit repetitive. There is an incredible level of attention to detail here.
Continuing with the attention to detail. The music is wonderfully executed with many transitions to different styles the same as is done with the vocals. Once again this helps to give some evolution to the tracks and keep your interest. While you do have three or four pretty unique segments with each track though they do get repeated multiple times within the track. Not enough to be annoyingly repetitive but enough that you do notice it.
All in all, every aspect of this album complements every other extremely well. Some real-time was put into the whole experience and it was time well spent. Really, the only complaints I would bring up is that it can get a bit more repetitive than I would prefer at times and that the theme can get to be a little overwhelming at times but these are only small complaints. This is worth your time it is an excellent musical experience as well as pretty funny overall. Plus if you have it on in the background you will absolutely confuse the hell out of any friends who are not expecting it.
- ‘Carnival of Killers’ is released on 13 November. You can get your copy, and loads of other Macabre goodies, HERE.
www.facebook.com/OFFICIALMACABRE
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.