Reviews list for Macabre - Gloom (1989)

All bets are off on this record as to just what the fuck you are going to get next on this twenty four and a half minute fest of spazzing, jerking and convulsing "murder metal" as it blasts its way through nineteen tracks of serial killer related lyrical gibberish. 

Humour aside, there's almost a lazy intelligence to this record that borders on genius. The shock value of taking some of history's most notorious serial killers and writing two minutes (max) songs about their exploits is niche I grant you. But to be able to expand on that by utlising some of the most simplistic lyrics adds an almost layman like style to proceedings that you just can't fail to be enamored by. Case in point, on track two Trampled to Death (a song about the death of 11 fans at a Who concert in the 70s): 

  "You went to see the Who 

And the people there trampled you

You were underneath their shoes

There was nothing you could do"

As laughable as it is, there's still very clear contrast between the baseness of the lyrics and the unpredictable nature of the music that serve as an excellent combination to give real dimension to proceedings. You see, this isn't just a few immature kids writing music to upset their parents, whether planned or not there is a striking juxtapose in the songwriting here that adds weight to the appeal of the record beyond just its lyrical or musical content in singularity. 

We got treated to more of the same in a slightly more structured way on the follow up to this release, Sinister Slaughter, which further cemented the band as a force to be reckoned with. However, the importance of the debut to both death metal and more specifically grindcore at the time is of massive importance, alongside World Downfall and Horrified from the same year.