the Melvins : "Tarantula Heart"

\After making more than 30 albums you have to switch things up. Buzz Osbourne did this by switching up the songwriting process and having two drummers come in and jam, then took the by-product of those sessions and wrote new songs to them. Starts off sounding like a "Vol 4" era Black Sabbath b-side, then things get weird at the six-minute mark, and it is like they shift into an entirely different song. Things continue to morph throughout the twenty-minute opening track,. It is not unlike free jazz at times in the abstract way things wander. They regain their momentum and solidify the sound by eventually locking back into a driving chug. I can appreciate the experimental nature of what they do, but in terms of songwriting, some parts of this sonic monolith work better than others. 

"Workin' the Ditch" is effective with its sludge-dense riff that moves with a great deal of power. However the bulk of the song just drones off this one riff and does not lend itself to much in the way of dynamics. On the other side of the sonic spectrum is "She's Got Weird Arms" which sounds more like a Devo song than something you might expect from these guys. I am not opposed to them breaking away from heavy. It is not the catchiest song and has a long and winding angular riff as its wobbly backbone. They meet in the background when it comes to the broad contrast of the two previous songs with "Allergic to Food". This brings them closer to what the Butthole Surfers did, but without the dropping acid in the trailer park feel. 

"Smiler" has enough of their more sludgy side to satisfy their more metal-minded segment of the fanbase. It feels like something Jell Biafra might do as a side project, though less industrial than say Lard. It works for what you want from them, while there is a more experimental jammy feel, it's not a huge departure for the band, not their greatest album when it comes to songwriting, but they are still trying which is more than many bands do these days, and given the context this was created in it's a cool concept that worked well. I will give this an 8.5, as the jammy nature does not always create hooky songs that draw you back in but is a fun journey to explore as is. 

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