Tarmageddon

My first introduction to this group was a single track off Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist. I can't quite recall which track it was, but either way, it was onto something, because this group caught my ear upon listening.

There's a lot to talk about here. This is a band that allegedly leans towards humor and tongue-in-cheek lyrical (and non-lyrical) content for the basis of their songs. I say allegedly because I, alas, don't speak a word of Swedish, and thus any jokes never registered with me. But hey, that's alright, because I can still talk about the music itself. Though, I will say that any band that doesn't take themselves too seriously is nine times out of ten a bloody good time in my experience, even if I can't understand them.

The music of this album is some quality cuts of a very... Unique sort of thrash metal while dabbling in a myriad of other genres as well. There is some quality riffage present, and though it's nothing too phenomenal, I found their riffs to be, in a word, good. It's the sort of thing where you'll probably find yourself bobbing your head along with the riffs without realizing it, which is always a good quality for a band to have. But I don't feel that's where this band's strength lies - it lies in their versatility. In many tracks you have some fairly stock-standard harsh shouted vocals, and in others you have some medium-to-high-register (I almost typed that as medium-to-rare) clean singing which I found to be surprisingly well executed - not a feat that many heavy metal bands properly achieve in my experience. In another you have what sounds like something in between beatboxing and A Capella. Yeah, I said that right. It's in there, and it somehow works in my opinion. There are other passages which seem allusive to folk or even funk at times with some rhythmically plucked, bouncing bass lines. I think you can get the idea - this is a highly mixed bag of an album, musically, though I don't feel it strays too far off the beaten path too often.

However, this doesn't mean the album doesn't have its flaws. This is an album that absolutely overstays its welcome. This album is almost an hour long - and a lot of that time is fluff that could be shaved off without too much of a blow to the record's wholeness. Much of this fluff is spoken-word bits distorted by minor static. Now, since I can't understand Swedish, I probably missed something important here with these spoken-word segments but as it stands, the album felt a lot longer to me personally due to these sections that offered little to me. Again, my own fault arguably, but the point still stands. The riffs, as I said before, are just good. And I would go on to say that the typical thrash-y segments are easily the weakest points of this album to me. It feels very stock-standard and forgettable during these bits and anytime they came up I found myself urging the band to get to the parts where they started being goofy and strange again. Thankfully, the dull parts are few and far in between, so I don't feel it holds the album back too much.

This album is almost certainly going to result in divided opinions for anybody who listens to it. I get the feeling it's very much a "love it or hate it" record - the goofy bits will undoubtedly be off-putting to some, while enthralling to others. Me personally, I greatly enjoyed this album and hope I can get my hands on a physical copy sometime soon. All in all, if you're a lover of the strange, the goofy, the out-there, or just have an affinity for bands that are just plain fun to listen to, give this album a listen and you very well may enjoy it. If you can't stand strangeness, or if you're more of a purist who craves consistency and uniformity with your metal, I'd say pass this one by, as it will probably not be to your liking.