Of all the music I’ve heard, of all the reviews I’ve written, I’ve never been unable to describe a sound. Genre labels like “death metal”, “progressive”, and “indie” are easily attachable to a majority of musicians out there. Sure, a musician will emerge every so often and blend a couple of genres together, but not to the point where it’s unclassifiable.
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (SGM), however, comes along with a sound so unique, so abnormal, that the written word cannot accurately describe it. Unclassifiable? Pretty much.
Amongst the music critic community, SGM’s latest release In Glorious Times is being tagged with a football field-sized list of adjectives: bizarre, unconventional, eclectic - just to name a few. Still, no matter what adjectives are used to describe SGM’s sonic assault, it only gives you a mere idea as to the musical diversity found on In Glorious Times.
“The Companions”, a ten minute long opening track, mixes an avant-garde vocal style with a soothing, yet vaguely haunting tempo. Nils Frykdahl’s vocal performance on this song emits a vibe of paranoia and fear, letting the listener know that a form of chaos quickly approaches. And that form of chaos is “Helpless Corpses Enactment”: one of the most outrageous songs I’ve heard to date. The operatic-like opening immediately follows with a sound comparable to spoken-word death metal. SGM pretty much throws standard time signatures out the window, as the guitar riffs swarm in from all directions at a high-tempo. And where as the vocals on “The Companions” were paranoid, but still relatively calming, “Helpless Corpses Enactment” does a 180° with a raspy, aggressive onslaught of words. It’s completely deranged, but unquestionably the highlight of the album.
“Helpless Corpses Enactment” marks the pinnacle of SGM’s aggressive nature on In Glorious Times. Once over, the album delves back into that avant-garde style of music. “Puppet Show” sounds like the background track for a Scooby-Doo episode where the gang stumbles into a haunted mansion. “Formicary” leads with a thick bass line that could double as a Les Claypool/Primus track. With “Formicary”, SGM unleashes Carla Kihlstedt heavenly voice onto the listener’s ears. Her standout performance continues on “Angle of Repose” where she exemplifies a stark contradiction to the pure insanity found in “Helpless Corpses Enactment”.
As In Glorious Times draws to a close, SGM just starts mixing assorted genres together at will. “The Salt Crown” jumps out as the most intriguing song of In Glorious Times’ second half. It’s the definition of progression; starting off with a slow melody that leads to pure madness and then reverts back to sanity.
In Glorious Times is going to sound almost too intricate for its own good upon first listen. But continued spins will reveal a unique work of art that takes time to understand. Each repeat listen will have you noticing different musical influences from symphonic to alternative to pure metal. In Glorious Times truly resembles an onion in terms of layers. But where as each peel of an onion brings tears, In Glorious Times will put a smile on your face knowing that there are bands like SGM who look to avoid being labeled under one genre.
"In Glorious Times" is on sale May 29, 2007 from The End.
