Review Summary: Cooking in a conventional kitchen
I wonder what kind of band names Mattias Eklundh had thrown away before finally landing on Freak Kitchen. Regardless of how many there were, he ended up finalizing one that is pretty appropriate for the band’s style of music. On
Cooking With Pagans there is a display of the wacky thoughts in the minds of the band members, however the majority of these types of thoughts have been shared before on numerous occasions. I was expecting the pagans to bring something new to the table at least.
A lot of quintessential Freak Kitchen elements are present on this album including the off kilter lyrics on topics such as anal bleach, the complex lead guitar parts, as well as catchy choruses. Quirkiness is a signature theme with this band but regrettably the novelty has considerably worn out for me. The attempts at being playful and fun are hit and miss here; unfortunately the latter is more often the case. For instance the “Slopp pee pee py” section on the track “Sloppy” is one I got quite accustomed to and sing like a rabid dog, however the “Goody goody” lyric on the song of the same name makes me want to punch a wall (you can’t expect a Freak Kitchen review without some hyperbole).
The stronger songs are the ones on which the band take the music more seriously, and these do cover more than half the record thankfully. Even if the lyrics are nonsensical they are wrapped around more mature song structures. These songs have some good riffs as well as ridiculously catchy choruses such as those on “Private Property” and “I don’t want to golf”. The former song sounds even more fresh because bassist Christer Örtefors takes the lead vocal duties. It’s unfortunate that he doesn’t sing more often since he has a good voice and the music would have felt more dynamic. Mattias’ vocals are pretty standard, while occasionally going out of his comfort zone by screaming at a high pitch. The lead guitar work is freak-esque as is to be expected, and there are some pretty complex solos present that will have avid fans practicing for days to master.
There are a few other fresh features including the sitar and tablas, however their use is fairly limited. The most significant addition to the music must be the new tools that Mattias has added to his arsenal, the 8 stringed guitars. They are used considerably on the album, in fact it sounds like they were used for the whole record. The sound isn’t djent like, however it does sound a little dull for the most part and lacks a kick to go along with the more adventurous riffs. The dull sound is a complaint I have for the production in general, but this production style is pretty much used on the whole Freak Kitchen catalogue.
I think the fact that the music is all too recognizably Freak kitchen is the largest drawback of the album. The band hardly pushes out of its comfort zone and is treading territory on which it has already left its footprints. The song structures are pretty simple and uninventive. There’s a feeling of frustration at the end of the album since the band should be composing much stronger music given the talent of the band members. Sadly this isn’t the case here, and I think only hardcore Freak Kitchen fans will be pleased with this album.
