Review Summary: Video games + metal = Win.
The Power Glove: a controller accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System released in 1989 that recreated human hand movement on your television screen. Powerglove: four heavy metal musicians who transpose their favourite video game themes into swift bouts of guitar wankery and furious riffage. Sound gimmicky? You bet. Is it fun? Hell yes!
The key to
Total Pwnage’s success rests firmly in nostalgia. Hearing some of your favourite video game themes in thrash metal guise is sure to raise a smile, and anyone who isn’t filled with glee when they first hear
Tetris (themes B and C) either didn’t play the game to death when they were a kid or is an emotionless android. The problem for many listeners of
Total Pwnage will be familiarity, or lack thereof, with the respective games that Powerglove perform their songs from; if you aren’t familiar with the particular theme that each song is based on then it is unlikely you will derive too much enjoyment.
Each track does, to some degree at least, hold up on its own merits. The instrumentation is flawless and, as previously stated, extensive guitar wankery abounds. For a self produced EP the production values are high, with each respective instrument achieving admirable levels of clarity. It’s the guitar that is most prominent in the mix, which is to be expected as they are the primary component of Powerglove’s sound. The drums and bass are perfectly audible, if a little unspectacular; they simply provide a rhythmic base for the guitarists to cut loose.
There really isn’t much to say about
Total Pwnage. If you are a fan of video games and have experience with the games to which the tunes are interpreted from, you will most likely get a kick out of it, but that is pretty much all you will get;
Total Pwnage wont stay with you forever and after a couple of listens you will probably be done with it, save from sharing some favourite passages with friends (the previously mentioned
Tetris (themes B and C) is one you will definitely want to show others). If you aren’t familiar with the themes then it is probably best to skip
Total Pwnage, as it will undoubtedly come across as a fairly mediocre twenty-five minute noodle-fest.
