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| Label: |
Century Media Records |
| Year: |
2008 |
| Format: |
CD |
| Tracks: |
11 |
| Genre: |
Parody Metal |
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If you were anything like me, you were more than likely disappointed to hear the last Strapping Young Lad album The New Black. While it was a solid effort, it paled in comparison to the rest of Strapping Young Lad's catalogue of infectious, over-the-top comical metal fare. It bled over way too much with Devin Townsend's solo work and one could easily tell Devin was taking on too much work at the same time. When the news broke that Devin was permanently burying Strapping Young Lad (or at least until he could find something to piss him off enough to regain the fuel needed to write SYL material), it was equally disheartening to know that Strapping Young Lad ended on such a weak note.
And thus where Zimmer's Hole comes in. Many of you may remember Zimmer's Hole as simply "that SYL side project that Byron Stroud and Jed Simon were in." Yep, I'm pretty sure that's how everyone treated Zimmer's Hole. I sure did. I think pretty much everyone would pick up their albums and then immediately set them down and go over to the "S" section and pick up Strapping Young Lad. I don't believe anyone actually listened to Zimmer's Hole's first two albums. If you did, you will soon blink out of existence because you are a collective figment of the metal community's imagination.
So why does Zimmer's Hole matter now? Because this third album When You Were Shouting at the Devil... We Were in League With Satan is essentially picking up right where Strapping Young Lad left off, right down to the line-up. Zimmer's Hole is pretty much Strapping Young Lad- complete with Gene Hoglan back on drums- but without Devin. To cover the vocal position they have The Berserker session vocalist Chris Valagao, who sounds at times down near identical to Devin! And they also have additional guitarist Chris Stanley to aid Jed.
So how does the album sound? Well, as I said it picks up right where Strapping Young Lad left off, but it's much more entertaining than The New Black. The album is essentially "Far Beyond Metal: The Album!" (And before any of you point out that "Far Beyond Metal" was a song off The New Black, let me remind you that the song existed YEARS before that album. Smart asses.) It's got all of classic Strapping Young Lad's energy and the goofy tongue-in-cheek fury of their No Sleep Till Bedtime live EP. It doesn't have the same intensity as City, but it more than compensates for the phoned in performance on The New Black.
And then there is the stuff that Zimmer's Hole brings to the table on its own. Rather than go for the industrial, Fear Factory-esque tinge that Strapping Young Lad did, Zimmer's Hole opts for more obvious parodies of classic thrash, death, speed, and power metal anthems. You have the Manowar parody with the obvious Metallica opening riff of "Hair Doesn't Grow on Steel", the bellowing grunts of "Flight of the Knight Bat", and the rhythmic groove of "Fista Corpse". Then there is the special appearance by Nathan Explosion on the brief but hilarious "The Vowel Song" which will please both fans and critics of Dethklok alike. And last but not least is "Anonymous Esophagus", a metal song about blowing mysterious cocks, easily one of the GREATEST SONGS EVER.
Do you like Strapping Young Lad? Do you like sweaty, hanging titties? Do you like necrophilia? Do you like glory holes? Then When You Were Shouting at the Devil... We Were in League with Satan is the album for you. I'll leave you with some dear departing words from Zimmer's Hole: "Now hush, no time to talk, just get down there and suck on my cock! No, I don't want to know you name, just so long as I came!"
Review: Necro-tron
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