It seems that a lot of the music that I have been reviewing has been bands with a decent amount of history, but that are relatively new to me. That is the story with Dead Animal Assembly Plant. Although they have been around for 10 years, they first came to my attention only a couple years back as one of the contributors to the first Riveting Music release, “A Riveting Protest,” where they covered Pop Will Eat Itself’s “Ich Bin Ein Auslander.” In fact, it was our friends at Riveting Music that suggested I might like to review their latest release, “Bring Out the Dead.”
From frontman Z. Wager’s snarling, sneering vocals to the killer riffs from Rebecca ‘Buzz’ Wager, the latest effort from DAAP reads like a nursery rhyme nightmare. It’s as if Richard Scarry had finally lived up to his moniker and brought forth demonic versions of his furry creatures bent on taking you to hell. While you’re there, you may get a visitation from “The Ghost of Friedrich Nietzsche” and learn to “Do the Inferno” (not from Nietzsche, he’s not much of a dance instructor). It’s this balance between Metal riffs, horror imagery, and musical references to childhood memory that make “Bring Out the Dead” such an enjoyable album to listen to.
However, beneath that surface are timely and poignant lyrics reflecting the state of the world in the last few years, especially in the United States. “A Violent Breed” could be seen as an indictment of terrorist attacks around the world, but to me it feels directed at the continuing epidemic of mass shootings that we seem to be unable to control in the U.S. A few tracks later, “Colors Under Attack” brings us into the Black Lives Matter movement and the despicable actions of police. The line “I’d rather see you dead” could be seen as the voice of the racist police stepping on the neck of George Floyd or as the thoughts of angry protestors directed back at the blue line. The track ends with the repeated line, “Red white, we blew it.”
The next two tracks, “Somewhere Else” and “Sacred Disgrace,” reflect a rejection of organized religion and its rampant abuses. Bringing us to the time to “Behold the Righteous Plague,” which is a song steeped in Gaia theory, exposing the human race for the disease that it is. “With a species hell bent to destruct, you’re fucked!”
This is followed the by the upbeat, but still horror-filled “Do the Inferno,” a song as fun as anything Rob Zombie has ever released. With “The End of You,” the final track of the album proper, as the last two tracks are extras, we are treated to the tale of a woman (serial) killer wreaking vengeance on all of mankind. Or maybe just one man, who knows?
If you like your Metal with a healthy dose of industrial synth noise and an injection of horror punk, then fill your ears with the latest release from Dead Animal Assembly Plant. A haunting, raucous digging into the depths of depravity, “Bring Out the Dead” bears the echoes of a horror movie that was never made, but surrounds us in everyday life.
Rating: 4.5/5
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The Metal Wanderlust 