MACABRE - Grim Scary Tales
February 8, 2011, 13 years ago
(Willowtip Records)
There are none stranger in extreme metal than Macabre. The Illinois-based band bust on the scene early, back in ‘84, and put out a quick couple of releases that were so quirky, technically astounding, and completely original that it was hard to not give a nervous laugh when saying the band’s name. But then came the lengthy delays between albums, the endless/confusing reissues, and some lacklustre releases, all of which added up to the old timers becoming, unfortunately, not too vital in today’s metal scene. But with the excellently titled Grim Scary Tales (the band’s first album in eight years), Macabre has found the fire again. Opening track ‘Locusta’ grinds fast and hard, and second song ‘Nero’s Inferno’ brings the quirk, in the form of a weirdo Eastern European folk song (yup, as the second song). Tunes like ‘The Ripper Tramp From France’ and ‘The Black Knight’ bring Macabre’s legendary nursery rhyme lyric and vocal patterns along with a mid-paced groove that the boys in the band deserves to relax with after so many years of so much hysteria. ‘The Bloody Benders’ blends backwoods hillbilly banjo pickin’ with Macabre’s usual hyper-playing and serial killer humour, and a cover of ‘Countess Bathory’ never hurts anyone. Despite going on for a bit too long, the album proves that nursery rhymes and grindcore still sound great together, and the three freaks in Macabre still sound great together, too.
