Another year and another backing band for
Creed
; in this case it includes the great drummer
Rey Washam
, known for his work in
the Jesus Lizard
and on various other projects. With old bassist
Duran
back in the fold as well,
unleashed another modern psychedelic nightmare/masterpiece with the short but not-a-note-wasted
Boxing the Clown
. Opening track
"Master Blaster"
is another
highlight, with
Washam
's work the best, most frazzled accompaniment for the usual electric mayhem he whips up yet.
himself drops some massive riffs and mind-melting feedback, and his aggressive double-tracked bark/whine/moan is just plain gone. From there it's another plunge into the weird and wired world of
, with
's drumming and co-production abilities really helping out. The steady pound of
"Sister Sarah"
shows them at their best together,
's big wallop and
's usual fine work on singing and guitars both taking things to another dimension nicely enough.
is credited with also using a sampler this time out, and while there's not much to immediately indicate its presence or lack thereof in terms of overall sound, there's definitely the hint of him playing around more with spoken/sung elements, loops, and the like. Otherwise, the same generally compressed, intentionally artificial and very intentionally strange approach of the past is here, if given a new crackling buzz throughout. Vocals on a number of cuts are among some of the least prominent they've ever been in or out of
Chrome
, echoing up through the layers of noise that
has so thoroughly made his own. As always, there's a little surprise or two:
"Go Blind,"
for instance, has a weird stop-start part to it that along with its relatively straightforward presentation could be
the MC5
with a little more guitar wiggery. ~ Ned Raggett