Search - Macabre :: Gloom

Incomparable to all other metal

idvego | Alabama | 04/02/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Gloom" emerged in an age of dwindling thrash and ascending death and grind. Whereas most bands at the time wore faces of stone seriousness, Macabre brought about humor to an otherwise unoriginal genre. The importance and individuality of this band and this album cannot be stated enough. Musically, Macabre incorporates elements of groups ranging from Possessed and Slayer to Motorhead and even Billy Roberts ("Hey Laurie Dann" is a parody of the classic "Hey Joe.") This album in particular is marked by extremely fast tempos, lots of bass rolls, a few guitar solos, and multiple vocalists. (Possibly the first metal band to do this? I'm probably mistaken here, just a thought, though.) The true legacy of Macabre doesn't belong to any of these elements, however. Macabre invented a subgenre of music known as "muder metal," metal that pays lyrical homage to mass death. That's right, nearly every song on this record is about a serial killer or mass murderer. These aren't conveyed in a mundane, death metal manner, though, and this is Macabre's charm. The songs include sing-a-long styled choruses with sarcastic, sordid lyrics that would make Trey Parker and Matt Stone feel ashamed. Well, probably not, but they're irreverent, let's just say that. For instance, the chorus of "Holidays of Horror," a heavy song about Christmas killer Ronald Gene Simmons, sings "Merry Christmas, he gunned his family down. His bullets were their presents, dead relatives all around" to an old Vaudeville showtune. Pure brilliance.The CD itself is great; the artwork has been completely revamped, ... all of the original tracks have been remixed and mastered (though I like most of the originals better, myself), there are two bonus tracks from their first record, "Grim Reality," ("Disease" and "Natural Disaster") plus six live tracks at the end of the CD! (They were recorded way back in '86; my CD is mislisted, for some reaons, not sure about the others. The tracks are the same, but in different order: What the Heck..., Ultra Violent, Funeral Home, Mr. Albert Fish..., Fritz Harman..., Killing Spree.) Little more could make this release better. You can hear a sample or two at their mp3.com site, but it's really not necessary, this may be the best piece of plastic you ever purchase.Here is the track listing:
1. Embalmer
2. Trampled to Death
3. Holidays of Horror
4. Fritz Haarmann the Butcher
5. Evil Ole Soul
6. Harvey Glatman (Your Soul Will Forever Rot
7. McMassacre (James Huberty)
8. David Brom Took an Axe
9. Cremator
10. Nostradamus
11. I Need to Kill
12. Ultra Violent
13. Rat Man
14. Hey Laurie Dann
15. Patrick Purdy Killed Five and Wounded Thirty
16. Exhumer
17. Dr. Holmes (He Stripped Their Bones)
18. The Green River Murderer (He's Still Out There)
19. Funeral Home
20. Disease
21. Natural Disaster
Then are the aforementioned live tracks (in the listed order).
22. Ultra Violent
23. Fritz Haarman the Butcher
24. Funeral Home
25. Mr. Albert Fish (Was Children Your Favorite Dish?)
26. Killing Spree
27. What the Heck Richard Speck? (Eight Nurses You Wrecked)Macabre's mirth-metal juxtaposition can be closest related to bands like Lawnmower Deth, Old Lady Drivers and the like, but is literally incomparable to all other metal. Also suggested are "Sinister Slaughter" and "Behind the Walls of Sleep," but buy "Gloom" first! Also, keep an eye out for the re-release of "Grim Reality," their first release and second best LP."

Very Gloom Macabre

Gunther Haagendazs | Up High in the Trees | 08/30/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First off, let me tell how difficult it is to find this CD. I had to find a copy off eBay, after several weeks of searching for it online, because it is Out of print and that's why Amazon doesn't sell new ones. There are three versions of this that you can find. The standard 21 track version. The first re-release (which is the only place you can find their Grim Reality Album on CD as bonus tracks but is much harder to find of all 3 releases.) and this second re-release which has 6 bonus live songs. There are also at least two versions with different artwork, the one Amazon doesn't show is basically the same, just with mushroom clouds detonating around earth in addition to the chaos already depicted. When reading the notes from the band inside the case, we find out that Macabre really don't think of this album as their greatest release per say. And it's easy to understand why.



The production isn't that great, the average song length of all 27 songs is 1:30, some of their songs are not normal Macabre topic (instead of Serial killers and Mass Murderers there are a few songs like Embalmer, Rat Man, Trampled to Death) and once again the overall production isn't as good as Sinister Slaughter or Grim Reality. In fact tracks 20 and 21 were extra tracks originally found on Grim Reality. There are also typos and misspellings found throughout the Lyrics booklet, sometimes with entire sentences gone. The 30 second Nostradamus has lyrics in the booklet but of course there are no lyrics in the song and is really an instrumental. The song titles for the Bonus Live Tracks are also out of order (Example: Richard Speck is really track 22). These live songs are also the earliest Macabre songs you could find as they date back to '86 and should also be considered gems.



But who can blame them? This is early Macabre, only their second album on a very Indie Label, so of course there are going to be a few flaws. But there are also a few classics. The song Holidays of Horror (about a man who snapped and killed his family on Christmas) brings a smile to my face because of how funny it is. Same goes for McMassacre (obviously about a massacre at a McDonalds). If you are new to Macabre I would suggest getting Sinister Slaughter, Murder Metal, or Dahmer first before venturing into Gloom.



All these songs are very intense but after a while they seem to kind of sludge together and if you aren't a big Macabre fan, then you may be turned off a little bit by them. If you already have a few Macabre CDs in your collection you'll foam at the mouth for this. It's heavy, it's fast, it's funny, it's true and it's Macabre. Macabre are one of my favorite bands, and it seems they only get stronger with each album. I agree completely with reviewer idvego in that they are incomparable to other death metal and that each album enforces their originality. As I've said, this isn't the best place to start with Macabre but its still good stuff that all Murder Metal fans will enjoy...that is if you can find it. Hoped this helped.

"