Review Summary: He was only just beginning.
I decided against making a phoenix reference in regards to Whitehouse's return to the scene in 1990. Whitehouse was never that graceful. Rather, they are a lich. A necromantic beast that has died and completed the trials needed to become truly undead, now an abomination of mother nature wrought upon Earth. To celebrate this resurrection, William Bennett created a new label to introduce this in Susan Lawly, announcing their new album
Thank Your Lucky Stars.
Right off the bat
Hungry For Pain hits hard. Endless droning and echoes fill the track as a screeching synth bursts through as if the skies are now opening up to reveal the end of the world. Slowly as the track goes on, a drill sound can be heard endlessly as your cranium begs for air, but Willy Boy won't give it to you. Instead he will give you
Thank Your Lucky Stars; a squeaky drone with a strong percussion filling in the background as William's voice is edited to give this alien vibe. It is as if Whitehouse is ascending beyond what it used to be, turning into something even more grotesque than they were. Ghostly chirping that has been distorted is shoved in and out, the percussion gets stronger, and suddenly I find myself fearing that something is coming; something bad.
Try And Be Grateful damns all forms of conventional taste, booming out horns sounds and distorted echoes. The real treat though is
My Cock's On Fire which returns to the old Whitehouse, with screaming and what I believe to be the distorted audio of the atomic bomb's test explosion back in the 1940's. Soon the droning gets louder and a volumizer makes itself known as I am bombarded with a cacophony of cataclysmic proportions. It is a euphoric sound to hear, and Whitehouse has changed.
Steve Albini was the best addition Whitehouse ever got. He turned the group into something far bigger than anyone ever imagined, applying his avant-garde craft to making an amazing 22 minute album. The only thing keeping me from giving it a 5 is its short length, but other than that, it is truly amazing. I suppose since we thought they were never coming back we should... Thank our lucky stars？
