Hideous Appetites

Do I see Castle Grayskull?? I know my Saturday morning classics, and the look of this cover artwork reminds me of watching Ghostbusters, He-Man, Dungeons & Dragons and co., as a young boy, while being high on sugar from the heavy doses of frosted cereals. You have to admit that it looks more like a Lucky Charms theme than a zombie theme…

Now that it caught our attention, what’s inside the box? Well, a toy of course, but a highly promising product as well. Hideous Appetites is the first release for Adrenechrome, a young trash-stoner band from Orillia, Ontario. They may not take themselves very seriously, but you should seriously listen to what they do.

Like a bag of jelly beans, Adrenechrome offers all flavors. Their influences range from Mastodon to Corrosion of Conformity and from Pantera to Thin Lizzy. Choosing to be eclectic comes with a high risk of getting lost along the way. Adrenechrome has this ability to stay within certain boundaries, and it blends those same ingredients throughout the songs. Given the nature of their music, it seems more than appropriate that the band chose to release it through a 7-songs, 33-minutes EP – not too short, just long enough.

As any stoner or trash bands, guitars riffs are the main driving force behind Adrenechrome. Their tone is inspired by many contemporary metal bands such as Mastodon, High on Fire or Bison BC, and they know just how to bring an excellent balance between trash and groovy riffs. Their full potential is probably best expressed in a song like “Six Guns”, where the distinct layers of guitars and bass offer something really interesting. The drum is also worth mentioning, as it excels at drastic pattern changes – for example, in “Titans Fall” where it alternates between double-bass drums, trash beats, and brings in an unorthodox ride pattern (half way through). As for the vocals, the rich and colourful palette goes from hardcore delivery à la D.R.I. to warm southern vocals à la Alabama Thunderpussy, and flirts constantly with trash giants.

The lyrics are nothing less than epic and excellent: they are drenched in historic battles, and make good use of characters, whether they are witnesses, soldiers or sailors. On this 7-tracks ride, I can single out “Titans Fall”, for which the band made a video, the centrepiece “Locust Wings”, or the rock and roll “The Horror”.

For the variety of influences and the strength of their trash-stoner style, I would recommend Adrenechrome to anyone who follows Montreal’s Tunguska Mammoth or used to follow Windsor’s The Georgian Skull. This is highly entertaining, especially on a Saturday morning.

- TheBlackHull
[Originally written for blog.metalmadeincanada.ca]