A double album of two halves…
Released through Ipecac on 7 July 2017 and pondered ‘pon by Jason Guest
For those unfamiliar with Melvins and their experimental proclivities or those unaware that the Love part of this double album is the score to the Jesse Nieminen directed, self-produced short also titled A Walk With Love and Death, the 14 tracks will be a test. A blend of experimental noise, ambient textures, dialogue from the film, snippets of songs, this is far from an easy listen. Yep, this film is going to be a fucking nightmare. Exactly the kind of film Melvins would be involved in.
For all intents and purposes, the Death tracks make up the “proper” Melvins album. And a damn good one at that too. Ominous and moody, openers ‘Black Heath’ and ‘Sober-delic (Acid only)’ are doom-paced and intoxicating, leaving a peculiarly dark taste in the mouth before the sludge-weighted heft of ‘Euthanasia’ collapses in and smears and smudges and smashes the heavy air with some really cool vocals and a reverb/delay drenched solo splattered over the last 90 seconds of the song. So far, so very heavy and so very good.
Then the tempo is ramped up for ‘What’s Wrong With You’, a two-and-a-half minute blast of beautifully sarcastic and poppy punk. Lumbering and thumping along, ‘Edgar the Elephant’ drags the tempo down because any song with ‘elephant’ in the title should. Of course. And from ‘Flaming Creature’ through ‘Christ Hammer’, the ultra-weird and ultra-catchy ‘Cactus Party’ and Death-closer ‘Cardboro Negro’, Melvins are being Melvins: unpredictable, experimental, defiant, charming, captivating, etc. etc. etc. With this double album, what Melvins have done here is, again, outstanding. Because Melvins don’t give a shit what anyone thinks, Melvins never disappoint and, predictably (the only thing predictable about this album), A Walk With Love And Death doesn’t. Far from it. Now, go buy it (here) and get a ticket for their upcoming European tour (dates here).
Love:
- Aim High
- Queen Powder Party
- Street Level St. Paul
- The Hidden Joice
- Give It To Me
- Chicken Butt
- Eat Yourself Out
- Scooba
- Halfway to the Bakersfield Mall
- Pacoima Normal
- Park Head
- T-Burg
- Track Star
- The Asshole Bastard
Death:
- Black Heath
- Sober-delic (Acid only)
- Euthanasia
- What’s Wrong With You
- Edgar the Elephant
- Christ Hammer
- Flaming Creature
- Cactus Party
- Cardboro Negro
