Posted on: September 7, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

Ah, this type of amelodic hardcore/metal really brings me back to some of the earliest reviews I would put up on the website. While there are lines of semi-melody thrust into the music at different times during the disc, everything seems to be constructed on a whim, without any real decision on syncing up the band. When the vocals do come out in any of these tracks, the style is in the same trite style that is all screaming. While each of the tracks would tend to sound virtually the same to some listeners, each one has a different feel to it as well as incorporating something else into the Ed Gein mythos. For example, “The Marlboro Man is a douche bag” really mixes in Stabbing Westward-style guitars, while “A Way to Kill Old People” looks backwards even farther and consists of mainly speed-metal lines, a la D.R.I. or Slayer.

Ed Gein is an example of some individuals who have gotten together and have the technical equivalent of an orgasm on each track. Thrusting in and out and being penetrated erratically, with different rhythms, Ed Gein can either be considered the world’s quickest orgasmer, or a very pitiful premature ejaculator. “I Wish You The Best” is by far the most radio-friendly of tracks on this disc, with the various guitar and drum lines being constructed in such a way that an individual could considerably groove to it. What could be possibly happening with this disc is what I experienced with Berserker – what seems to be chaotic and completely unorganized at the first coalesces with multiple listenings to the disc, after I realize where Ed Gein are trying to go with things.

Using clips from various movies to break up each of the tracks, which is beneficial but ultimately clichéd, Ed Gein plays a brand of speedcore metal that doesn’t really bring much to the scene in general. Drawing in more elements from Les Claypool-oriented bands in the sense that there are some interesting arrangements, Ed Gein nonetheless goes down a musical path that many a band has been going down for the last decade. Extreme fans of speedmetal may find this disc exemplary of a band that is very solid, but not as influential to the scene as say Shadows Fall or Downthesun or even Deicide.

Rating : 4.3/10

Top Track : I Wish You The Best

Ed Gein – It’s A Shame / 8 Songs / 2003 Hex Records / http://www.ed-gein.cjb.net/ http://www.hanginghex.com / Reviewed : 15 November 2003

Leave a Comment