It's A Shame That A Family Can Be Torn Apart By Something As Simple As A Pack Of Wild Dogs.
Ed Gein:
Graham Reynolds - Guitar/Vocals
Aaron Jenkins - Bass/Vocals
Jesse Daino - Drums/Vocals
Track Listing:
1. You suck at life... and I'm not talking about the board game.
2. The Marlboro man is a douche bag.
3. A way to kill old people.
4. Nice shoes... wanna fuck?
5. I wish you the best...
6. ...and by the best I mean the worst.
7. Beating a dead horse.
8. What is this monstrosity?!
Self-bio (from [url]www.ed-gein.com[/url]):
"Ed Gein is a three piece band hailing from Syracuse, NY.
Each of the three members (guitar, drums, and bass) sing equally, there is no lead singer.
The goal of Ed Gein is to play technical and intense music and to remain true to ourselves as artists.
We write what we like, we play what we like.
We are not concerned with trends or genre classifications.
This is what we love...we will only play what we love."
Review:
Named after the infamous serial killer, Ed Gein are just as brutal as the name implies. Their song titles may suggest a more humorous idea of their sound, but one listen tends to blow those thoughts over. All three members scream in a shrill (albeit generic) hardcore yelp, while they pound away at an unwielding pace on their instruments, generally until they hit a breakdown section. It may not last long, but it sure is a ride.
Right from "You suck at life... and I'm not talking about the board game," the band's skill is immediately apparent. Speedy riff is stacked on speedy riff until a glorious breakdown is reached. "Marlboro man" is probably the most accessable song, simply because it's got some amazing breaks, the best breakdown on the album, and is the defining track by a mile. A glaring problem is soon realized, however... movie sound clips break up every song, and they all appear to be from Donnie Darko. In my opinion, that's just a tad cliche and overdone. Luckily, they only last about five to ten seconds before another song brings in more spastic metal action.
Moving on, "A way to kill old people" and "I wish you the best..." set up fantastic pounding formulas, with some extremely odd-sounding guitar breaks. "Beating a dead horse" displays more dissonant guitars, which is a welcome changeup, but some simply excellent alternating chug riffs rue the day. In the end, "What is this monstrosity?!" reprises the breakdown from "Marlboro man" and sets up a much more spastic continuance, another welcome change. Unfortunately, you realize another glaring flaw... the album's only, at the most, twenty minutes minus the samples. The fact that they put a bonus (boring) old school punk song at the very end of the album, eight minutes after the final song is over also means you'll catch yourself in the huge pause often if the record is on repeat. ARGH!
So, the final result is that Ed Gein manage to supply a short but sweet dose of technical metalcore with a pinch of grind thrown in for good measure. The samples are kind of stupid and the severely small running time limits them, but generally the record is worth a listen despite these flaws. Let's just hope their next album has double the songs and no samples.
Recommended Tracks: "You suck at life... and I'm not talking about the board game", "The Marlboro man is a douche bag", "A way to kill old people", "Beating a dead horse"
Rating: 3.5/5
