Horrific – Your Worst Nightmare – 3/5
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With a striking introduction leaving absolutely no illusion that this albums primary influence lies beyond any metal genre, and harks back to the days of 80's B-Movie Horrors, with plenty of cheesy tones and cliché sound effects the most apt genre to place it would probably be Death Metal. Except it doesn’t fit; its too upbeat, too fun and catchy, perhaps more attuned to a “Death ‘n’ Roll,” label instead. But whatever genre it is best placed, it somehow screams, why has nobody done this before?
Performed entirely by one man, introduced as ‘Slasher Dave’ by the opening track, he seems competent at a number of instruments whilst perhaps being expert at none. The bass often follows the guitars, though can often be subtly heard in the back, coming forward at opportune times. The guitars often provide a basic chord or tremolo based riff, overlaid with plenty of guitar screams. Sometimes slowing to a crawl, there is a visible attempt to vary tempo between tracks, though it sometimes falls a little short. The solos come in no short supply, but once again feel rather basic, upbeat and shredded, fitting once more with the B-Movie cliché. The drumming is competent, and the growls feel perfectly suited to the style at hand. A little monotonous at times, but with a catchy rhythm and deep growl, interspersed with maniacal laughter, high pitched shrieks, my only real complaint in this regard is that the lyrics can often be hard to make out, and after the promising (and rather amusing) opener, I’m sure I would be able to expect more of the same.
Despite the apparent mediocrity of many of the instruments being performed, it all works cohesively to provide the perfect atmosphere required for such an endeavour. This truly feels fitting for a background for a 80s horror, it’s not hard to imagine the ‘Ash vs Henrietta’ (Evil Dead II ) to the tune of ‘Ride on the Lunatic Side,’ or ‘Brain Drain’ playing behind the legendary lawnmower scene (Braindead). You won’t find any flashes of brilliance, or unbridled creativity here, but that’s never what it intended to accomplish. Instead, this short release provides some damn catchy ‘horror-ific’ music. This is precisely the sort of album Dethklok’s “Dethalbum,” should have been, and any fan of 80s horror would do well to pick it up.
Highlights: Death Rock, Brain Drain, Metal Cemetery
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