Ghoul - Jerusalem (1985)
While 1984's Carry Out Fucking is a clucking masterpiece of punkrock brutality, Jerusalem brings the rock to the winning formula. Masami's vocals are still grumbly and gruff, the guitars rock the funk out with a Motorhead vibe, while the drummer pounds the living shit out of the skins. The wonderfully named Bear Bomb has been replaced by a mysterious fellow named Ghost, whom has a less melodic but just as powerful bass style, laying down an iron-coated bottom end for the raging guitars to battle you ear cavity with.
While Carry Out Fucking's recording quality was a perfect mix. It had a lo-fi tint, as well as a bass heavy sound. Jerusalem is much more meaty and filled out affair. First off the bass isn't as loud. Instead of sticking out with melodic parts, Ghost's playing is much more functional with straight-pounding rhythms. However, Be Alive or Dead shows that he is actually very capable, with silky smooth fills that beg the question: is he playing fingerstyle? The guitars are higher in the mix, with added lead dubs that create a great atmosphere. The focus on soloing is neat...not the most impressive with some out-of-tune bends, but who listens to this stuff for amazeballs musicianship? No-one i hope! The drums are more controlled on this record. Don't get me wrong, it's still d-beats and monster fills. But the fills aren't crammed into every void of space. And, as shown in the title track, there's some interesting, dare i say funky, hi-hat work. Although i'm guessing it was more of an Iron Maiden vibe he was going for.
According to the fantastic kyoukinonihon blog, where the link for this record comes from, the vocalist from Gas, Narumi, done the piano parts on the title track!
No comments:
Post a Comment