Macabre - Grim Scary Tales
Let me first say that the Macabre guys are among the coolest dudes not only in the Chicago area, but really in the universe. And their musical ability is absolutely beyond belief. Watching this band perform live is nothing less than awesome, in the literal sense of the word. Many in the crowd stand mesmerized by the complexity, difficulty and intensity that appear so effortlessly done. And it breaks my black heart to say anything even a little negative about my heroes, but Grim Scary Tales is cute and amusing when it should be vicious and monstrous. It starts strong, though! The first track, “Locusta,” is everything I had hoped for, and there are other scorchers (“Dracula,” for one, and parts of the others). But there are also the songs (“Nero’s Inferno,” “The Big Bad Wolf,” “The Bloody Benders”) when I roll my eyes in disbelief, sigh, and think about how glad I am that I’m listening to this alone. I expected sing-alongs, but they’re often super-goofy, and Corporate Death and/or Nefarious sing “in character” in nearly every song, so the vocals are always different, and well… let’s be honest, the vox are often Macabre’s weak link, and make the song “Mary Ann” essentially Power Metal, which although possibly the best track here, is not really what I think of when I think Macabre. They also cover the Venom classic, “Countess Bathory,” hands down the most-covered in all Venom’s arsenal. I love it, too, but I’ve heard 666 x 666 different renditions of this, and didn’t need another. How about “Under a Spell” or even a non-Cronos track like “Blackened Are the Priests”? I guess Macabre needed one about a serial killer, though… Perhaps it’s time to move beyond that restriction.
I feel that I should point out, again, the unholy level of musical ability these guys possess. I’m not sure that anyone else is even in their league. And while Grim Scary Tales is frequently supremely impressive, it’s also too often silly, like a cartoon version of the band’s 1993 magnum opus Sinister Slaughter.
(0) Comment(s)
Page 1 of 1 pages