Back in the late nineties I started listening to horrropunk. To this day it is one of my favourite scenes. Back in the day I listened to basically everything I could find that would match the description horrorpunk. Nowadays I am more picky. Still, if I see a promo mentioning horrorpunk I am so tempted to review it. I’ve skipped a couple of releases, I just didn’t have the time. Mutant Reavers promo for Monster Punk found me at exactly the right time. So, is it any good?
If you clicked this review, you probably have seen the score I assigned it and you are already aware I am not impressed. Let me tell you why. Mutant Reavers is a German band. There seems to be a lively scene there, which has brought me two of my favourite bands in the scene, The Crimson Ghosts and The Other. They have released a couple of EP’s and now try their hand on their debut full length. On this album you’ll hear a band that comes close to Dead End Guys or The Epidemic at times, they unfortunately never reach the lofty heights of the top players of the genre.
Horrorpunk is a rather limited genre. The rules (if we can call them that) are relatively strict. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It gives bands a clear view of what to do and a challenge to toy around with those rules. Although the promo tells me Mutant Reavers play horrorpunk infused with metal influences I would encourage them to play a bit more out of the box. Monster Punk displays a band that plays nicely within the set boundaries. They do try to deviate from the norm slightly in a couple of songs. There are some psychobilly influences on “Body Of An Android” and “She-Monsters From Outer Space”, where the band reminds me of Demented Are Go that try to play horrorpunk instead of psychobilly. “Medusa Twist” does something really different by adding synths and a very danceable rhythm. It is a weird track to close the album. In fact, it is so different from the other thirteen tracks it makes me wonder what it is doing on the album.
The production of the album could use a bit improvement. It all sounds a bit thin in my ears. I do enjoy some thick, warm metal guitars in my horrorpunk. On top of that the singer is at times struggling with his lines. Especially on the slower songs he bites of more than he can chew. It seems he is trying to compensate this by adding some more vibrato. It is something I would recommend not to try again.
Being a fan of the genre I really want to like this. My favourite releases in the genre are made to be sung along. Mutant Reavers do not give me that vibe. I have listened to this album over a dozen times the past two weeks and still there are no tracks I want to join in.
This is a nice first attempt at a full length album by Mutant Reavers. I hope they will come back with something better in the future. Something that I can like as much as I hope I will after reading the promo.
