Grim: Masturbating Zombie

I wanted to hate this album. I really did. It's called Masturbating Zombie, for the love of all things decent and respectable. Of course, metal and hard rock are not always "decent" and "respectable"—nor should they be. But even good musicians that purvey in heavy music have a thing called taste, and from the first glance of this disturbing album's sleeve art it appeared that taste was out the window. Not long into the horror-themed proceedings was my visceral reaction confirmed; Grim, the Italian shock rockers behind this project, purvey in heavy rock that loves gruesome detail as much as it loves distorted riffs, both of which are in generous supply.

Much to my chagrin and my surprise, I didn't end up hating Masturbating Zombie. Were a friend to stumble upon the extremely NSFW album cover in a record store, I'd have to fight the urge to affirm my having heard it, sure, but I never found myself wanting to stamp the CD into a million little shreds. The riffs and guitar work here are pretty great, and the hooks are good enough to keep you humming them for a good hour or so. However, despite how efficacious Grim are at milking as much as they can out of this type of riff rock, this still is likely only to appeal to very few. The utter campiness of Masturbating Zombie ensures at most a cult following. And, in case it hasn't been made clear enough yet: this album is called Masturbating Zombie. Even die-hard fans of Max Brooks or The Walking Dead probably retched at that image. But hey, for fans of hard rock who also prefer their cult horror to be significantly more disturbing than The Rocky Horror Picture Show will find a lot to love here.

Track Listing
1. Nightmare Castle
2. My Black Widow
3. Society
4. Venomous
5. Premature Burial
6. Cutting
7. Breathless
8. Painful
9. Inferno
10. It's Better to Be Buried
11. The Dead are After Me
12. Beverly Hells

Added: January 11th 2013
Reviewer: Brice Ezell
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 1950
Language: english

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