Beyond Cops. Beyond God.

Add me to the short yet steadily growing list of people that owe Waking the Cadaver an apology. Like many before me, I was content to peruse a few songs on YouTube, say "this sucks" before the track is even over, and move on. Well, that was my loss, because Waking the Cadaver is actually one hell of a fun band to listen to, and Beyond Cops, Beyond God is a testament to that. I'm the type of person that, when I'm legitimately wrong about something, I work to make it right. That's why I have no qualms whatsoever about putting my credibility on the line by granting Waking the Cadaver their highest score yet. They deserve it.

I suppose the biggest thing this album has going for it is its charm. Waking the Cadaver gets points for switching up not only the sound of their previous album, but the entire theme. Whereas Perverse Recollections of a Necromangler was a pure pit slam record with ridiculously over the top gory and misogynistic lyrics, Beyond Cops, Beyond God infuses a more traditional brutal death metal flair with the slams, resulting in a surprisingly pleasant contrast. The motif has changed as well, with the lyrical focus of this album being rooted in the glorifiation of gangsters and all those dirty deeds they do dirt cheap, all in the name of power and territoriality. I would expect nothing less from a slam band hailing from New Joizy. Back to the subject of charm, this album is unapologetically dripping with goombah, greaseball, guido thuggery, the kind you see in a good mob flick. This is like... Goodfellas put to slam. Seriously, I could see Joe Pesci beating Billy Batts to a bloody pulp to the swinging sounds of "Terminate with Extreme Prejudice". That's certainly a different type of atmosphere than what I'm used to in death metal, but what can I say, it's entertaining.

Saying Beyond Cops, Beyond God is smarter than Perverse Recollections of a Necromangler is like saying Forrest Gump is smarter than Moon Unit Zappa. Even though one is practically a scholar in comparison to its counterpart, both are unmitigatedly, unconditionally, unbelievably stupid, with an unctuous smugness about it to boot. Like every Jungle Rot album before this, this is dumb music that prides itself on its sheer simplicity and single mindedness. Opener "Beyond Cops" did catch me off gaurd with its almost Disgorge like brutal death leanings, but it wasn't long before Waking the Cadaver came crawling back to their unyielding deity, the almighty slam. I'd have to say the slams are my favorite parts of these songs. That's where I feel the thuggery shines through best, where Nicky Santoro sees red, where a bar patron gets stabbed in the neck repeatedly with a fountain pen for telling a friendly samaritan to shove it up his ass, etc. I swear, every slam in this album feels like a different Pesci moment put to music.

The ever present elephant in your bed with a big letter "E" embroidered on his pajamas with this band has always been vocalist Don Campan. It isn't difficult to see why. I've always been harsh on his style, which tends to sound more like a wet guttural slurp than a growl or gurgle, and to an extent, I'll still be critical. He's of dubious talent, there's no doubt about that, but that doesn't mean he can't get the job done. Something about his forceful, bludgeoning vocal attack just works here. I was especially impressed with his admittedly marvelous contributions to the one-two punch of "Made in Hell" and "Boss Status". Don's ditched the pig squeals that made Perverse Recollections of a Necromangler (in)famous, and anyone who's heard them knows how dangerously close said squeals come to being flat out satirical. While they were certainly sans competence, I guess I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss them just a little bit. The guitar riffs are so easy I could play them with my nuts tied behind my back, so I won't even comment on the guitar and bass player's performances. They chug, they play fast, whoop-de-do. A major improvement from Perverse Recollections is the drumming, which actually sounds on time now. Not that that album's sloppy, grindcore-esque drumming didn't have a sort of low brow panache to it, but it's so much more respectable here.

The production took a positive turn, as well. It still has the bassy, slightly claustrophic quality that Perverse Recollections had, but it's generally clearer and better on Beyond Cops, Beyond God. Production not being a problem, the flaws of this album lie elsewhere. I'm not putting Waking the Cadaver toe to toe with Augury or Cynic, so they don't lose points for simplicity. It's the little quirks that annoy me. From the anomaly of the one hardcore shout in "Reign Supreme" to the ill advised guitar solo of "Suffering Upon Revenge", there are a few things this album could have did away with. Plus, all notions of thuggery aside, a couple of the slams are too two step-y even for my taste. And, now I'm sure of it, the lack of Don Campan's signature wheat shredding squeals definitely hurts the longevity of the album.

Still, I'm impressed. I'm not going to say I had Waking the Cadaver wrong, because they're exactly what I thought they were. On the contrary, I think I had myself wrong. I knew their music was going to be as developmentally challenged as Simple Jack, but damn it, I didn't realize I would enjoy it! So that's that. Consider me off the "I hate Waking the Cadaver" bandwagon for good. I'll be eagerly awaiting their future output. Maybe they'll take their thuggery to outer space next. Yeah... space slam. Why not? If anyone could pull off such a stupid idea, it's the one band that clearly doesn't give a fuck about degrading themselves for my amusement. Waking the Cadaver, I salute you.