HR080 - Theater Of Ice - Live-Beyond The Graves Of Utah - C60 — 1988
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Side 1:
Gone With The Worms Kill Your Girlfriend Mommy Stinks Real Bad Now Standing On The Edge Theater Of Ice Hungry For Ruin Twilight Messiah |
Side 2:
Losing Proposition From The Tomb The Dead Folsom Prison Miron In The Attic Special Surprise |
REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
According to a detailed Wikipedia page I found (HERE), Theater Of Ice first formed in Nevada, before relocating to Utah and then Phoenix. All the songs were recorded live in various Utah towns during June 1988. And throughout the set are very brief injections of interview bits with the band. For these shows the band were the quintet of Brent Johnson, Dale Garrard, Craig Moore, George Carlson, and Richard Hillquist.
It is impossible to pigeonhole this band. Some of the songs are so dramatically different from one another that it boggles the mind to think they were all played in the same month, rather than representing an evolution of the band over time.
The set opens with ‘Gone With The Worms’. The sound is rough and the vocals are far clearer than the instruments, but this is high energy punk with yelling vocals, searing razor guitars and thrash rocking drumming. Next is the creepily titled ‘Kill Your Girlfriend’, which is announced as the band’s next single. ‘Mommy Stinks Real Bad Now’ is hysterical and crazy rocking, and has some really interesting guitar and bass interplay for such a wacky punk song. Actually, the vocals and lyrics make this a dead ringer for a Little Fyodor song. ‘Standing On The Edge’ is more of a good time rock ‘n’ roll song than punk, and has a really good melody. Then, in what the singer announces as a ‘tempo change’, we get the screechily foreboding Goth/Punk/Metal ‘Theater Of Ice’. This is damn good. ‘Hungry For Ruin’ is all punky rock ‘n’ roll. And ‘Twilight Messiah’ is one of my favorites, being a killer slab of drugged space/industrial rock.
Does that sound like some crazy variety? Side 2 opens with ‘Losing Proposition’, which has a pop tune feel, a catchy melody, and some tasty guitar licks. Get these guys in a studio with this song and a producer and it would be MTV time. Theater Of Ice are stylistically schizophrenic. I wasn’t surprised when a band member during one of the interview bits said, “We come across as just a bunch of demented idiots, but this is a really straight band”. I think they’re both.
Next we’re back in action with ‘From The Tomb’, which is a brief spoken word against grinding music piece that recalls Robert Calvert or Michael Moorcock doing narratives with Hawkwind. ‘The Dead’ features stoned, bashing punk-metal, with a cool dual guitar combination of slashing chords and wasp sting licks. ‘Folsom Prison’ is…. YES, Johnny Cash’s song! This is great raucous rockabilly with excellent guitar. ‘Miron’ has a Ska vibe with disturbingly goofy vocals (the song is announced as being about a child molester). ‘In The Attic’ is manic thrash rock with shrill guitars. And, finally, ‘Special Surprise’ is a ‘Thank you for coming song’, followed by brief silence, and then a mish-mash of interview bits and crazy music.
Wow, these guys were all over the stylistic map. And it takes a while into the tape to realize it but they can really PLAY!
According to a detailed Wikipedia page I found (HERE), Theater Of Ice first formed in Nevada, before relocating to Utah and then Phoenix. All the songs were recorded live in various Utah towns during June 1988. And throughout the set are very brief injections of interview bits with the band. For these shows the band were the quintet of Brent Johnson, Dale Garrard, Craig Moore, George Carlson, and Richard Hillquist.
It is impossible to pigeonhole this band. Some of the songs are so dramatically different from one another that it boggles the mind to think they were all played in the same month, rather than representing an evolution of the band over time.
The set opens with ‘Gone With The Worms’. The sound is rough and the vocals are far clearer than the instruments, but this is high energy punk with yelling vocals, searing razor guitars and thrash rocking drumming. Next is the creepily titled ‘Kill Your Girlfriend’, which is announced as the band’s next single. ‘Mommy Stinks Real Bad Now’ is hysterical and crazy rocking, and has some really interesting guitar and bass interplay for such a wacky punk song. Actually, the vocals and lyrics make this a dead ringer for a Little Fyodor song. ‘Standing On The Edge’ is more of a good time rock ‘n’ roll song than punk, and has a really good melody. Then, in what the singer announces as a ‘tempo change’, we get the screechily foreboding Goth/Punk/Metal ‘Theater Of Ice’. This is damn good. ‘Hungry For Ruin’ is all punky rock ‘n’ roll. And ‘Twilight Messiah’ is one of my favorites, being a killer slab of drugged space/industrial rock.
Does that sound like some crazy variety? Side 2 opens with ‘Losing Proposition’, which has a pop tune feel, a catchy melody, and some tasty guitar licks. Get these guys in a studio with this song and a producer and it would be MTV time. Theater Of Ice are stylistically schizophrenic. I wasn’t surprised when a band member during one of the interview bits said, “We come across as just a bunch of demented idiots, but this is a really straight band”. I think they’re both.
Next we’re back in action with ‘From The Tomb’, which is a brief spoken word against grinding music piece that recalls Robert Calvert or Michael Moorcock doing narratives with Hawkwind. ‘The Dead’ features stoned, bashing punk-metal, with a cool dual guitar combination of slashing chords and wasp sting licks. ‘Folsom Prison’ is…. YES, Johnny Cash’s song! This is great raucous rockabilly with excellent guitar. ‘Miron’ has a Ska vibe with disturbingly goofy vocals (the song is announced as being about a child molester). ‘In The Attic’ is manic thrash rock with shrill guitars. And, finally, ‘Special Surprise’ is a ‘Thank you for coming song’, followed by brief silence, and then a mish-mash of interview bits and crazy music.
Wow, these guys were all over the stylistic map. And it takes a while into the tape to realize it but they can really PLAY!