Only Flesh | From the Gutter to the Grave
by Trevor Portz
Staff Writer
Have you ever wondered what would happen if Faster Pussycat and Ministry had a lovechild? No? Well, it seems to have occurred, and the resulting beast is a band called Only Flesh. There’s just one big problem, however; apparently the heavy drug use by the parents caused the offspring to come out a little bit… off.
On their newest album, From the Gutter to the Grave, Only Flesh continues their trend of taking once great ideas (industrial and glam), mashing them up, and ultimately turning them into something barely more interesting than Nickleback. It would seem the band is intent on maintaining a level of shock value, but the only truly shocking thing is how uninteresting they really are.
From the Gutter to the Grave just feels so contrived that it hurts. Every moan, groan, scream, and sample feels chosen not for actual artistic reasons, but because they have already been done effectively by someone else. This is reminiscent of the movie studios that produce low-budget counterparts to big screen horror flicks. Think of this as “Cut” to Nine Inch Nails’ “Saw.”
Simple, repetitive riffs are buried under vocalist Rev (Revina Lower)’s Jonathan-Davis-meets-Glenn-Danzig-meets-Nivek Ogre-meets-a-lobotomy whines. The lyrics deal with all of the standard topics—sex, drugs, pain—but are so juvenile that they feel like they were written by a teenager whose only exposure to any of the subjects was via some late night Wikipedia reading. Judging by the number of times it’s repeated in “Favorite Shade of Grey,” Rev is clearly very proud of his “romancing the whore” line. Watch out Bob Dylan!
Minus the Cramps-inspired metal fun of “Queen of Sleaze,” the rest of the album is just a series of neutered glam-dustrial tracks broken up with far too many “Glitches,” which are really just short noise samples. By the final the final track (minus another pointless “Glitch”) you’ll truly question the meaning behind its title of “Divine Suffering.” Suffering? Yes. Divine? Not so much.
Oh, and for the record, the band claims to have broken new ground by crucifying lead vocalist Rev on stage. New ground? That’s a bit of a stretch. Not counting the numerous sideshow acts and freak shows that have done this for years, the Genitorturers did this long before Only Flesh was stealing ideas. They did it with a much better soundtrack, too.
So there you go. Maybe this will appeal to the newer breed of “outsiders” that missed both the glam and industrial bandwagons when they first came around. It does seem like something that would work for kids that think Black Veil Brides are doing anything remotely original. But for the rest of the world, go pick up the new Skinny Puppy or Semi Precious Weapons and stay away from Only Flesh.
Genre: Industrial / Glam Rock
Band:
Revina Lower (v)
Damien (g,p)
Neyder Rangel (k)
Josh (b)
Mutha F Kyle (d)
Track Listing:
1. Welcome
2. Glamputation
3. Favorite Shade of Grey
4. Glitch #1
5. Numb
6. Glitch #2
7. Crucivixens
8. Queens of Sleaze
9. Glitch #3
10. Sexual Holocaust
11. Inside
12. Saliva Lubrication
13. Social Crutch
14. Cocaine-a-go-go
15. Glitch #4
16. The Fall
17. Glitch #5
18. Divine Suffering
19. Glitch #6
Label: Rotten Records
Website: www.myspace.com/onlyflesh
Hardrock Haven rating: 3/10