SCRAPPING FOETUS OFF THE WHEEL „Nail”

A bit of an older album but one of the greats in my opinion. If the odd and macabre are your fascination then run to the graveyard and dig up this cd! J.G. Thirlwell, the man who is no stranger to chemical dependency and lack of stability, released “Nail” in 1995 although it was recorded in 1985. Way ahead of its time this cd has everything! Here's the run down:

Track 1 – Theme from Pigdom Come
An instrumental adventure resembling a strange mix of A Nightmare Before Christmas and some kind of army marching music. (Satanic Army most likely)

Track 2 – The Throne of Agony
My favorite track on the whole cd! An agonizing appraisal of depression vs. substance abuse mixed with feelings of self betrayal… What else could you want? I'd go into instrumental explanations but anyone who knows any Foetus related projects knows that vocal is the most important thing here. His raspy voice is soothing yet brings the feeling of hairs standing on end.

Track 3 – ! (3 sec.)
Aptly named! The sound of grinding metal.

Track 4 – Pigswill
A Psychotic story of a seemingly “Deliverance” type character fixated on hating women. Between the sounds of cow bells and those raspy vocals you wonder if you are listening to a cd or an angry farmer slaughtering his sheep.

Track 5 – Descent Into The Inferno
Starting as a lounge song that seems sad and bluesy to a descent into the inferno…speeds up and pace gains towards end of song after the crazy scat singers finish their biz.

Track 6 – Enter The Exterminator
Close behind throne of agony for best song on the cd…this song will blow you away. Cold dark vocals and lyrics. If you enjoy Skinny Puppy you will like this I hope. A lot of whispering and mounting tension with a drum beat resembling a heart beat. “Too much of a coward to snuff myself, I GUESS I'LL JUST HAVE TO SUFFER MYSELF”

Track 7 – DI-1-9026
Theme song for prison uprising and insanity!

Track 8 – The Overture From Pigdom Come
Resembles Track 1

Track 9 – Private War
Banging and Clanking!

Track 10 – Anything (Viva!)
A tribal sounding song that changes to a more upbeat pace and is mainly about freedom to do what ever.

Extras – This album comes with a written section called Helstinki Jail 8/7/85 that seems to me a journal of sorts written in jail by J.G. Thirlwell himself that contains sections of every song. Apparently he wrote the story that gave birth to the songs. A nice touch and gives to the feel of the album.

Wish I had something to say about the instrumentation of this album but it can't be explained… All in all I give this an 8 out of 10 and it sits close to my stereo at all times. Recommended for fans of Skinny Puppy, Pig, Einsturzende Neubauten, Frank Zappa, and The Birthday Party.