Megasus is a metal band made up of dudes from the Providence, RI noise rock scene, most notably bassist Brian Gibson of Lightning Bolt, who plays drums here. This self-titled album comes on the heels of several tracks the band was able to place in rock-based video games, but it stands up pretty well as a fun diversion, and is certainly more entertaining than many of its members' primary outlets. As a drummer, Gibson is functional, hammering out simplistic rhythms with the occasional fill or machine-gun burst of snare hits. But Megasus' songs are simplistic enough that he's never called upon to bust out an exotic time signature or anything, so within this primitive, caveman-rock territory, he acquits himself well. The songs themselves are loud and unsubtle, occasionally aiming for a psychedelic swirl but mostly settling into territory somewhere between Early Man and the Sword, bands that understand the power of fuzz and volume. Unfortunately, the mix doesn't really serve the music as well as it could -- the sound is too thin and undifferentiated, with everything blending into a solid yet blurry mass. And as is so often the case when hipster nerds play metal, the song titles (and presumably the lyrics) are firmly in fantasyland -- "Ten Kingdoms," "Swords," "Paladin vs. Berzerker," "Iron Mountain." It's unclear whether these guys have record collections full of Hammerfall and Manowar albums, or they just think this is what metal songs are "supposed" to be about, but in either case it hardly matters. For the most part, the solidity of Megasus' riffs carries the day.
© Phil Freeman /TiVo