Influential grunge-forefathers The Melvins have been recording, playing and evolving (in membership and musical style) since the early 1980s. This, their 21st studio album, is the second (after 2006's (A) Senile Animal ) featuring the lineup of core members Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover, plus Jared Warren and Coady Willis (both of Big Business ).Most of the tracks to be found here can, broadly, be divided into one of two categories. Firstly, and most prevalently, you have the surprisingly straightforward metal / rock tracks. Much of this album sounds like 1970s hard rock, with big meaty tuneful riffs, bombastic vocals and dramatic drum fills. Opener, ‘The Kicking Machine' starts the album effectively, in this vein, and is one of the better tracks (corny "heavy metal" clichéd lyrics like "rotting raving headless lady / little horned animal " aside). Other examples are ‘Suicide In Progress' (straight-up and fast moving, with a catchy guitar hook) and ‘Nude With Boots', the instrumental parts of which you could imagine serving as the theme to some ‘70s American cop show. Perhaps more interesting are the more dark, sludgy (more Melvins-like), doom-laden and experimental tracks. ‘Dies Irae', for example, starts with a near-drone noise, throws in a few bits that sound like they should feature on a spaghetti western soundtrack, and pulls it all together with a good measure of bombast. ‘Flush', on the other hand, checking in at a mere 1 minute 5 seconds, is a collage of whooshy synths, wobbles and underwater gurgles. ‘The Savage Hippy' is extremely dark, dissonant, and a layered, and building aural assault.The album closes with ‘It Tastes Better Than The Truth' - perhaps the most gruelling track here. Martial drums go rat-a-tat, then the sludge returns, while the vocals are a near-howl of the unintelligible repeated refrain. By the time it's over, and the album finishes, it is hard not to have a sense of relief.

I have a feeling that those listeners that enjoy the band's more straightforward ‘heavy rock' direction are going to be put off by the ‘sludgy experimental' tracks, and vice versa. Listened to in its totality this album becomes a bit like hard work, with not much in the way of humour or even emotion to lighten the load along the way. Even the vocals sound either angry, depressed or strangely impersonal, throughout. However, props are definitely due this band for their constant innovation, their uncompromising non-commerciality and their longevity. It will be fascinating to see their choice of bands when they co-curate this December's "All Tomorrow's Parties" festival weekend, to perhaps get further clues as to where their heads are at, musically, at this stage in their career. 63% Links The Melvins [myspace ] [official site ]