Toylets 'R' Us

Everyone’s favorite drunken brutal death metal machine Brian Forgue AKA Syphilic is back at it again with his fifth release Toylet’s “R” Us sporting what might be the most fucked up album cover ever, although it’s hard to compete with the covers of his other albums Behind Bars or Symphony of Slit Throats. Brian’s been at this for around seven years now and nothing much has changed since his first release came out in 07′. This is still the same putrid, fast, ear hole raping shit you’ve come to expect from this project. It’s got those familiar odd time signatures, inhuman gutturals, and blasting drums just like the last album, and the one before that, and so on. To those already initiated this album does not stray from the path what so ever. This is a Syphilic album and that is exactly what you are going to hear. To those unfamiliar with this project this is as good a place to start as any.

The album opens up with a short sample and then throws you immediately back into the meat grinder that is Syphilic. As I stated above not a whole lot has changed since the last record. The production does seem a little cleaner (albeit not much) than it was in A Composition of Murder. It’s still got retard-fast programmed drums and equally as fast mostly tremelo picked guitar and bass riffing. The drums seem to sound just a little better each album and that holds true for this one as well. Brian also seems to improve more and more on his guitar skills every time I hear something new from him. There are more than a few guitar sections in Toylets that pleasantly surprised me with their technicality. The bass is hardly audible almost the entire album but there are a couple of sections where the guitar stops to let the bass shine through. Brian’s vocals haven’t changed since he first started and are exactly what one would expect to hear on any Syphilic record. Ultra low gutturals lace every song spare for the one instrumental track. These are some of the lowest filthiest gutturals out there but they’re nothing new as these type of vocals are pretty much the standard for the genre. I would compare his vocals with some of the work Bob Shaw does in Cuff, and go on to say that these two do some of the lowest in brutal death metal.

Rarely (if ever) does this album ever slow past the break neck speed that makes up the music of Syphilic. The album comes in at around 42 minutes and for a change it seems some of the lyrics are based on religion (based upon song titles and some samples) which is a new theme for Syphilic. Four of the ten songs clock in at over five minutes long which is longer than any of the songs on A Composition of Murder, though this is definitely not a weakness as the songs never seem to drag on. There are a few samples which sprinkle the album tastefully, a few comedic, and a few that are dark as fuck. There is one instrumental track on the album “Beer Hats & Baseball Bats” that is a sweet demonstration of some guitar work and proves that the music can very well still stand on it’s own even without Brian’s bowel emptying vocals.

Newcomers to the genre be warned, this is probably not where you want to start. What’s good about it is that it does it’s job, it’s brutal death metal. This is also what hinders it, it does not stray from the formula that was laid down on the first Syphilic record and has been carried through every one since. There are no melodic frills here, no catchy slam riffs, and nary a full on guitar solo. There is nothing new here that you probably haven’t heard before and this is the only somewhat negative thing I can say about the album. For seasoned veterans of the genre you’ve probably already heard of Syphilic and probably made up your mind about Brian’s signature take on the genre. If you like what he’s done in the past you’ll like this and if not well then you probably won’t. If for whatever reason you haven’t heard of Syphilic yet this is as good a starting place as any. I do believe this is one of his best works if not a little bit too much of the same. Though if Brian keeps making albums that sound like Syphilic with little to no variation I sure as shit won’t stop listening, but a little something new might not hurt him at his point.