MELVINS & NAPALM DEATH
Savage Imperial Death March (Ipecac)
Talk of ‘joining forces’ really is apposite when it comes to these two legendary metal powerhouses. The press release takes pains to point out that this is not a split album – but then ‘collaboration’ doesn’t really do it justice either. It’s more a collision of supertankers, of tectonic plates, of planets. And it’s clear it’s as much of a thrill for both bands as it will be for fans of either or both.
Rip The God makes good on the promise of the album title, a Houdini-esque sludgy trudge that hits all the right low notes, and Stealing Horses is a surprisingly straight-ahead rocker. But this being a Melvins record in part, there’s also room for songs that consist predominantly of operatic vocals and clanking (Comparison Is The Thief Of Joy) and devolve into warped incantations and static (Some Kind Of Antichrist) or deranged babble and the synth riff from Van Halen’s Jump (Death Hour). And if all that doesn’t sell it to you, the first track’s called Tossing Coins Into the Fountain Of Fuck.
words BEN WOOLHEAD
