Ghoulunatics

Fun. Remember that, morose death metal fans? Well, Quebec’s Ghoulunatics have been hard at work for years now (ten, to be precise), ensuring that the legions of grim-faced death metallers get at least one reluctant smile in their listening repertoire. Not that these guys are a joke band or anything; the tunes rip, combining a classic thrash sound with modern heavy overtones (verging on death, but not quite), and a big sense of toe-tappin’ groove. The lyrics are, of course, fuelled by horror movies and whatnot, but beneath it all there just might lurk some deeper meanings, should you want to explore. Sabacthany is the band’s best release yet, continuing along the lines of their cool King of the Undead release, but with a better sense of song, a great clear production sound and a great performance from all the players. The songs kind of blur together after a while, and you’d do good to hear them before buying this, because the band’s strange sound no doubt ain’t for everyone. Also just released: It’s A Live!, a full-length, mid-priced live record on Galy showing the Ghoulies ripping it up in all their schlocky glory on stage (a Halloween gig, natch), with a good production sound to boot.