A Horror Show Only In Name
The eponymous chorus to the first track from Some Dead Bodies' new record, Monolith, calls out over and over, "This is a horror show." And to be quite honest, I looked up the definition of the stated idiom because my only real exposure to it was from A Clockwork Orange.
horror show (n.): something difficult to deal with or watch
And I can tell you with confidence and certainty that this record as anything but a horror show.
Throughout it's thirty-seven minute runtime, this groovy slab of head-bobbing death metal will have you existentially terrified of having the good time it wants you to have. Each and every song has riffs upon riffs that will throw your head back and forth and you won't even realize it's happening. It's a possessive spirit of an album powered by mid-tempo grooving oppressive lyrical themes we've come to love and expect from Nobody.
For the uninitiated, Some Dead Bodies is a death metal project from the ever elusive and mysterious Nobody. They are also the force behind the black metal project vide, as well and post punk and electronic projects also available on their bandcamp. We've interviewed them about vide before and we've covered that project extensively here, as well as on Instagram. Some Dead Bodies also released a four-track EP, Infernal Death, last year, as well as two more 7" releases leading up to this record. Each release has found more and more identity, this being the culmination.
Aside from the record being unbelievably entertaining, it's also Nobody's most cohesive release from this project. It feels so unified and fully-realized. Every song engages the listener on multiple levels and those levels repeat themselves the whole way through. It's tough. It's ambient. It's gross. It's dark.
The album is called Monolith and I can't think of another name more appropriate than that. It is, indeed, monolithic. It towers above the rest of the releases under this moniker. It stands tall hoping to beat down those in the way, to cause the most fun unease they've ever released. While the lyrics may suggest a horror show, this album wasn't even close, given the definition.
You can find Monolith on bandcamp, out today, August 6, 2021
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