Search - Adam Parfrey :: Evening of Sonic Sorrows

A One of a Kind Masterpiece

Janitor X | The Mountains | 03/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're looking for some hip new snowboarding music that will be on the next Mountain Dew commercial, you've come to the wrong place. If you're looking for truly twisted and bizarre music, you've come to the right place.
Most listeners will not have the mental strength to listen to this album. If you live in fear of insanity, racism, or violence, this album is not for you.
The same group who made "Deep Inside a Cop's Mind" and "Hatesville" brings "A Sordid Evening of Sonic Sorrows" to you. While the first of those two albums is easy to find, the second one is very rare because of it's content.
However, there are a couple cuts from "Hatesville" on this album, "What If They Gave A Love In and Nobody Came?" and "Race Riot". There's also one track from "Deep Inside a Cop's Mind" on the album. But, those are hardly the best songs on this album.
The first three are the best songs this group has ever recorded. "No Rule", a cover of a Leather Nun song, sounds a little bit like Ministry only much better. The cover of "Paranoid", by Black Sabbath, is not another attempt to replicate the original, but a slower punk version with unique vocals. "Kill Your Sons", a Lou Reed cover, is clear-cut beginning of the darkness the album slowly descends into. But, they don't forget to bring their sense of humor with them.
After those three songs, there are only two more cover songs. The rest is unsettling noise.
The peak of the album is "Goldstein's Out Tonight", Parfrey's version of Blitz's "Someone's Going to Die Tonight". The other great tracks are "Slayer" which has Peter Sotos speaking in an extremely disturbing manner about hippies with a Slayer-esque guitar opening and closing and "Rubber Doll I & II" which is absolutely hilarious.
If you think you know what the underground is all about, think again. These individuals come from the deepest recesses of the underground. Uncompromising, harsh, and nihilistic like the underground should be."