When members of very different sounding bands get together for an all-star project, one is never sure what to expect. The members of
Scum have belonged to bands ranging from
Emperor (guitarist
Samoth and drummer
Faust) to
Turbonegro (bassist Happy Tom) to
Amen (lead singer
Casey Chaos) to
Mindgrinder (guitarist
Cosmocrator). Talk about a diverse lineup!
Emperor is the essence of black metal, while
Turbonegro is a delightfully trashy, decadent party band whose influences have ranged from
Iggy Pop to
Alice Cooper to
Kiss. And
Amen's caustic metal/punk assault doesn't sound anything like either
Emperor or
Turbonegro. So what does
Scum sound like?
Gospels for the Sick combines a strong appreciation of old-school punk with an equally strong appreciation of thrash metal and '80s hardcore -- in other words, the raw, primal anger of
the Sex Pistols,
the Germs,
the Dead Kennedys, and
Black Flag meets the heaviness of
Testament,
Slayer,
Exodus,
Dark Angel, and early
Metallica. This is nasty, harsh, brutal stuff, but is also quite hooky;
Scum clearly admires the sort of hookiness you got with old-school punk anthems like
Black Flag's "Rise Above" and
Fear's "I Don't Care About You," but
Gospels for the Sick is much heavier. Those who know
Samoth and
Faust from
Emperor and Happy Tom from
Turbonegro will find that
Scum doesn't sound like either of those Norwegian bands; however,
Amen fans will find that
Chaos is as angry and angst-ridden on this 2005 release as he is on
Amen's albums.
Gospels for the Sick isn't the least bit groundbreaking by either punk or metal standards, but it's a decent, noteworthy effort that is worth hearing if one holds metal and punk in equally high regard. ~ Alex Henderson