Frightmare "Midnight Murder Mania" CD
[Razorback]
Damn right! These rippers combine classic grindcore, death metal, and thrash all into one seething mass reminiscent of a few cups of Terrorizer, a few more of Carcass, some diced Death, and even a dash of classic Swedish death metal (think early Entombed, Dismember, etc.), among other things. There are all sorts of vocals from burly low growls to midrange screams/shouts and sick high cackles, and I fucking love the mass amounts of great solos that are surprisingly melodic and seem to be written out to fit the songs, rather than just playing fast and hitting a few melodic patterns on occasion (just check out the middle of the title track). Plus, it's all about the breakdowns... I mean, these guys knock out some killer rhythms when they slow down even a little bit, and they do that a lot, because speed is definitely not the focus here. Shit, just check out "Black Christmas", that baby's full of mosh breaks that would put most bands to shame in this day and age. "Frank Zito, the Maniac" kicks it up another notch with the perfect ending: Crushing chord progressions, tapping solos... you can't lose! They close out with an unlisted cover of the Misfits' "Devilock", and needless to say it sounds quite different from the original! Had they not mentioned the track in the writing credits I might not have recognized it. At first it took me a second to get used to the recording, but it's pretty damn nice. In fact, it's probably the best sounding release that Razorback has handled to date. The guitars are heavy as hell but have a nice texture to them, the drums sound tight, the vocals don't overpower anything, and a little bit of bass peeks through. It wouldn't hurt to turn up the bass, but fuck it... they sound good. The layout is pretty cool. Minimal, but cool. The cover art is an awesome illustration done in sort of a gory comic book style, and all of the lettering kind of has that comic book/horror movie poster look to it. Inside there are some wild photos of the band members (all masked and with weapons). No lyrics are included, just some thanks lists and things like that, but it's obvious what the lyrical content here would deal with! Fucking violence and gore! This is absolutely one of my favorites from the Razorback camp, and any fan of the label should cut the shit and pick this one up immediately. Very cool. (7/10)
Running time - 37:54, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Midnight Murder Mania, Friday the 13th, Black Christmas, Frank Zito, the Maniac]
Razorback Records - http://www.razorbackrecords.com

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