Hateplow - Everybody Dies (1998)

Cost: $1.00

This CD is available for trade.

I was aware this was a side-project of Phil from Malevolent Creation, but I had no idea what the music was like.  While making this post I had very vague recollections of avoiding this years ago, thinking the music was overly angry and hardcore influenced (it's not, thankfully).   The cover looks like something a grind band might use (especially with the Drogheda-reminiscent ransom note logo), and with the politically incorrect songtitles and lyrical topics, I fully expected something either very spastic and Anal Cunt-ish or weirdly humorous like Gardy-Loo!  I was anticipating really over the top vocals and heavy use of audio samples.  

So I was somewhat surprised and slightly disconcerted that this ended up being standard grindy DM.  There's nothing particularly bad about it, and I suppose "Ass to Mouth Resuscitation" and "Compound" are marginally better than the other original tracks, but it still seems rather plain and uninspired for death metal.  Unfortunately the vocals are mostly unintelligible, so even the crude humor of the lyrics has little impact.  The Cream cover ("Sunshine of Your Love") is well done and (I think) played seriously, but the guttural vocals don't work very well.  Still, it's the most notable part of the album.   

Just as an aside, I found the eulogy for Larry Hawke (the drummer, who died before this album was released) in the booklet to be a strange inclusion, especially since it's from someone not directly related to the band (besides, they have their own brief dedication anyway).  I found it pretty funny that it stresses what a positive influence the deceased was while the back insert has a caricature of him driving a monster truck with "R.A.P.E." on the side.  The eulogy is extremely hyperbolic--I think the guy who wrote it probably meant well, but it seems corny and out of place, especially on an album with songs like "$20.00 Blow Job" and "Anally Annie."  Would be interesting to know if the band really wanted it in there or they just felt compelled to include it.