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Macabre > Dahmer > Reviews
Macabre - Dahmer

I know I was sick or evil, or both - 78%

autothrall, January 16th, 2024
Written based on this version: 2022, CD, Nuclear Blast (Reissue, Remastered)

Macabre's a band I never get around to revisiting often, but don't let that fool you, I think they're a fairly interesting and quietly influential act that had a pretty big impact on the deep-dive serial killer studies that other bands like Church of Misery have continued with. They also occupied a niche seemingly to themselves, where numerous genres combined, no one of the thrash, death metal, punk or grind really dominating the rest, and then the insertion of humorous elements into the music also transforms them into a carnival of Midwest extremity. The first four albums in particular have the most to offer, with these sprawling track lists, few ideas left on the cutting board, and though the tongue-in-cheek qualities can become distracting, they can mete out some mean fucking metal on your ass.

Dahmer is the band's exploration of its titular serial killer and it spends equal time tackling this topic, comprised of 26 tracks, most hovering around the 1-2 minute mark, a few beyond that, but that's where a lot of the grind aesthetic comes in here, because the band isn't always playing a million miles a minute with the splattering vocals and accelerated hardcore you'd expect. Many of them take a punk rock approach with gang shouts, accessible riffs, and then this is alternated with hyper-thrashing pieces that catapult themselves into the death metal spectrum. But they also delve a little deeper, with some more dissonant thrash riffing that even reminds me of Voivod, like in the opener "Dog Guts", and they'll bust out these solid leads that also seem pretty ambitious compared to the surface level of their style. So the idea that one could ever write Macabre as some group of gory goofballs would be misinformed. They are crazy motherfuckers who put an emphasis on exploring different sounds and then unifying them behind a chosen theme, which is conceptually impressive, even when it's something really zany like the thrashing surf rock of "Do the Dahmer" (something Ghoul might have picked up on).

Ironically, it's this variation that can both work FOR and AGAINST an album like Dahmer, because the shorter track lengths mean a lot of the stronger, evil riffing ideas will be broken up and you never quite get enough if you're digging them. Like the churning caveman death metal of "Hitchiker" ceding to the "In the Army Now" anthem, or the blasting, chaotic "Bath House" giving way for the "Jeffrey Dahmer and the Chocolate Factory" tune, which is essentially a twisted cover of the Oompa Loompa song from the old Gene Wilder film. However, by that same argument, every time I think I've gotten my laughs in and am about to phase out, they'll shift back into some more intense and interesting, so I can imagine that the scattershot inspirations and execution of this album might be an attempt to dive into the psyche of a character like its own subject. But I do think overall this might be an aspect of Macabre that has held them back from greater success, it's not like Mr. Bungle where the musical freakshow is the entire DNA of the writing, but something they swap on and off. It doesn't always land for me, either, but this and a few of their older full-lengths hit more often than not.

The vocals of Nefarious and Corporate Death are impressive in their versatility, from gutturals and sneers to higher pitched wails that you might not expect, and then the gang vocals I mentioned before. The guitars have a nice, organic tone to them which seems to work well across the constituent genres, frilly enough for the crisper thrashing riffs, fluid enough for the punk chords, and then some solid effects on some of the leads. The bass playing is quite busy and plunky, and this is a component which can even be highlighted within the sillier tunes, and I could say the same for the drums, these guys are just an overall, musically impressive act even if they only exhibit briefer bouts of technicality among the more simplistic, accessible writing. All told, there's not a lot I can really compare this with, or maybe just too MANY things to compare it with...some of the faster, thrash/death parts recall some Deceased of the same era, and there are obvious punk and hardcore references, but say what you will, Macabre is quite unique, and if you can pull yourself away from the Netflix documentaries, this is quite a bat-shit but well-rationed exploration of the infamous cannibal and necrophile.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Macabre - Dahmer - 93%

duwan, August 18th, 2023

Dahmer is obviously one of the main albums that define the band Macabre; their unique, quite experimental style of death/thrash metal was applied along with time; distorted jazz chords, technical appergios, and shredding are exposed in this album; mainly these sections with chords in B Standard were influenced by NOFX or other 80's/90's skate/ska punk bands.

Dahmer is a grotesque and obnoxiously gut-wrenching documentary of Jeffrey Dahmer in the form of music; every detail and line on this album is unfortunately true.

The album starts with the drama-based song "Dog Guts", The song is dramatic and brutal, mainly on the chorus (Roadkill, roadkill/ Jeffrey used to bring home; Roadkill, roadkill; Young Jeffrey loved to play with; Roadkill, roadkill […]), when all the instruments are in rhythm.

The guitars are based mostly on versatile and genuine technical playing; it includes jazz chords, which are present on "Dog Guts" and the outro for "Bath House", melodic overdubs in tracks like "Ambassador Hotel," and after the harmonic overdub, Corporate Death starts to play an overdrived solo, perfectly fitting with the tenebrous atmosphere of the track.

Speaking about atmosphere, the album is mixed between silliness on composition, a notable example can be their parody of the lullaby Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Jeffrey and the Chocolate Factory), copying the rhythm and melody, tracks like "In The Army Now", "Grandmother's House", "Jeffrey and the Chocolate Factory" and "Coming to Chicago" shows their morbid humor of the band with serious themes, contributing with their goofy way of music composition, sounding perfect as well, but at the same time they're silly musically, they're very dramatic, mostly on intros, like "Dog Guts" and the whole of "Temple of Bones".

The bass, though not audible in some sections of the album (e.g., The outro for "Apartment 213), is brutal and heavy, responsible for some sections of the drum's toms being a bit earraped. Well, the guitar is bass/treble-boosted, so I could say it was an issue with poor mixing, albeit that the bass is a very versatile instrument in this album; there are sections where the bass has a different riff from the guitar.

The drums are the main enhancement of the album; the funky jazz snare can prove that, and Dennis's abuse of semiquaver/thirty-second note drum kicks in the groovy sections and sixty-fourth note snare fills contain the authentic way of drum-playing of Dennis.

The mixing is mild and solid, though some tracks have inaudible bass in some parts, and sometimes the drums are earraped, but it's not an awful problem for such a raw full-length from a death/grind/thrash metal band. The guitars are bass/midle-boosted and with a reduced mid, yet with a semi-cranked distortion.

The production is brutal, the well-executed engineering is presentable, and it perfectly fits into 2000's "second wave of grindcore," in which grindcore bands with a more solid and modern sound started to appear (Nasum, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, etc.).

Overall, this is a mixture of experimentation and "incubation" of jazz's elements inside grind/death metal; Macabre will always be known as the kings of murder metal.

When Jeffrey comes marching home - 70%

HammerSmashedBass, January 26th, 2018
Written based on this version: 2000, CD, Decomposed

Serial killers have always been a pretty fascinating subject for me. Dahmer in particular captures my attention more than any other; in part due to his being an awkward, shy, and seemingly average dude with a hideously perverted rap-sheet. This guy showered with corpses and got blasted drunk in front of the severed heads of his victims. He was a metal concept come to life.

So it was a wicked surprise for me to find this album online, (I didn't buy the CD until later), and immediately pump it through my sound system. I'd never even heard of Macabre before; and this effort succeeded to both impress, and in many ways, disappoint my expectations.

Right away it became apparent that they got all the gory details of Dahmer's story. As a kid, this guy used to bring home animal carcasses and cut them up for kicks, so it's incredibly fitting that this album would start with the raunchy, 'Dog Guts'.

I respect the hell out of the musicianship on this album, the members of Macabre are obviously quite talented. The drumming is incredibly fast and precise (though he does tend to use the same couple of fills over and over again), and the guitar work is no second in comparison. It's also refreshing to hear the bass pop through the mix every now and again, too often that particular instrument gets buried in the mix on most heavy records.

However, the vocals are another story altogether.

Corporate Death has a really nice low to mid-range in regards to his growling; but oh man, those high-pitch shrieks he's got going on are really something else, and I can't say I mean that in a good way. It doesn't kill the mood of the song for me, but it does bring down my enjoyment quite a bit. I find myself wishing that he had stuck with the low to mid-range growls the whole way through.

If I'm going to talk about the negative aspects of this release, then I've got to talk about Macabre's use of the nursery rhyme/marching tune shtick. I loved 'Jeffrey Dahmer and the Chocolate Factory', I can't lie about that; but others like 'Grandmother's House' and 'Coming to Chicago' just ruin the flow of this album for me. It's too goofy, and not really funny. To me, it certainly doesn't belong on an album about a man who slept next to a blue barrel of acid and dissolved bodybuilders in it.

If I'm going to sum it up, I enjoyed this album despite its obvious faults. Macabre did a pretty damn decent job with this one. The musicianship is tight; and for the most part, the songs are full of great, catchy hooks and sick lyrics for a truly sick mind. For anyone who has an interest in serial killers, (especially Dahmer), and albums with a great grasp of continuity, this is something you'll want to listen to.

The South Park Of Music - 94%

Caleb9000, November 26th, 2015

Macabre...a very satirical extreme metal band that mocks sensitive subjects (mainly serial killers) and doesn't care who gets offended, much like Comedy Central's "South Park". But this takes it to a whole new level. The silliness is off the charts and it's all for fun. To do an entire concept album on Jeffrey Dahmer (one of the sickest people to ever walk the face of the earth) is not something that anyone could take seriously, no matter how die-hard of a music fan that they are.

Each song reflects on what part of Dahmer's life story it's reflecting on...sometimes. For example, "Grandmother's House" is about the times when Jeffrey was fulfilling his sick sexual desires behind his grandmother's back. The song is a fast and energetic skate punk track with nursery-rime-style lyrics. This fits in because it really does sound like it would be some kind of sick nursery rhyme. "Baptized" is about Jeffery letting Christianity into his life and being baptized. It sounds like some sort of song that would be played at a church when someone is being baptised, but featuring a distorted electric guitar.

Although sometimes, the music fits the satirical lyrics pretty well, sometimes it is completely unfitting for the sake of comedy. For example, "In The Army Now" is about Jeffrey's time in the army and being dishonorably discharged due to massive amounts of alcohol consumption. It sounds like something that would play at Chucky Cheese's during some little kid's birthday party. Sure, it has sort of a marching feeling, but that's present in some little kid's music, as well. I couldn't help but smile out of laughter when I listened to it, but it amused me quite a bit.

Some songs don't really talk about any event in Jeffery's life story. They just talk about the fact that he killed people. That doesn't mean that they're filler tracks, but they are just kind of joke songs, amusing ones at that. One example of this is "Jeffery Dahmer Blues", which is supposed to be one of Jeffery's victims singing a blues song about his fate. It's basically a joke song in the form of a blues track with heavily distorted, down-tuned guitar work. Another is "McDahmers", which paints the picture of Jeffrey being the owner of a fast food restaurant where the food is made out of the men that he killed. Nothing to do with the concept, just immature (and funny). These are the songs that you would listen to with friends when you want to get a good laugh.

There are two things that stand out to me the most on this album. One of those things are the lyrics. They tell Jeffrey's life story and put their own comedic spin on them. One of my favorite examples of this is when it talks about when a witness at his trial said that in school, he would roll on the ground and act like a clown. The lyrics create a little dance-metal track out of it.

"Rolling On The Ground!
Acting Like A Clown!
Let's All Do The Dahmer!"

I have tried doing the "Dahmer" myself during times of boredom. Another is when Jeffrey worked at a blood bank and was arrested for pulling his dick out in public.

"Drawing The Donated Blood
He Would Soon Be Arrested For Exposing His Pud
Blood Bank Blood Bank
Yeah! Blood Bank!"

The other thing that stands out to me about this album is the variation of the music. One minute, it's speed metal...then its hard rock...then its skate punk...then its children's birthday party music. This is why the album is difficult to describe as a whole, musically. I understand that this makes the album inconsistent, but that just adds on to the level of humor. If it was all one thing, it would eventually just get boring (not that the music is meant to be taken seriously, but you wouldn't enjoy it nearly as much). The only thing that remains the same on every track is that the guitars are always distorted, but they always play a different style.

This album sounds like something that Trey Parker and Matt Stone would write if they ever decided to get into music, and I feel like South Park fans would definitely enjoy it, as it's directed towards those who are looking for a good laugh and will love it, as well as those who are easily offended and will hate it. Sure, the music gets a little boring at times, but the variation in the songwriting usually keeps the listener interested. There isn't much to say about the direction of the album, other than sick humor, but hey, I could use a good laugh pretty much all the time. If you're looking for good musicianship and technicality, you won't find anything here, but if you're into humor and aren't easily offended, I would recommend that you invite some friends over and crank it up.

Best Concept Ever.... Uagh! - 98%

Inoculated_Life, July 7th, 2011

Macabre have definitely defined themselves in the genre of metal as murder metal, this release adds to it for sure. This whole album is about Jeffrey Dahmer, which is just awesome in so many ways. Not of course because he was a serial killer but just interesting how Macabre can pack 26 amazing songs about him into this album.

26 songs about the same person, might get boring? Hell no! This album has all the same ideas but the lyrics are genius. Every song seems to tell a snippet of the story behind Jeffrey Dahmer, and to a person who may find him interesting, just reading the lyrics can make your day. But I wouldn't just read the lyrics of course, listening to the songs get the point out even better.

The production quality of this album is by far probably the best sounding recording I have personally ever heard. It is just so crisp and clear and when a band is telling stories and things like that in their songs, this kind of production is needed. They definitely went the right way with this producer.

The songs on this album are for the most part pretty fast songs, with great melodies and breaks. My favorite track is actually the slowest song on the album, which is "Hitchhiker." The song "Hitchhiker" is almost like a giant breakdown but of course better. But if you like them fast then every other song on this album is definitely for you and is like all the rest of their songs off previous releases. One of the best things I can say about Macabre is the fact that even though a three piece band, they have some of the best musicians out there. Their drumming is absolutely amazing, his speed and precision really show on this album. The guitarist and singer are definitely a focal point on this release as well, the guitar riffs on the songs on this album are fantastic. I think Corporate Death really wanted to do something insanely heavy on this album and boy did he succeed, this is definitely Macabre's heaviest album that they have ever released.

Stand out tracks "Hitchhiker" Dog Guts" "Blood Bank" "In the Army Now," just to name a few, but they all are great!

Great concept album - 91%

metaljerks, February 21st, 2009

Macabre is a pretty unique band in the death metal scene. They formed in the mid-80s, and have survived to this day without a single lineup change. They aren’t too well known, though, possibly because their material’s a bit goofy and their vocalist, Corporate Death, has a piercing scream that’s kind of hard to deal with at first. They also haven’t released many albums, with just 4 full-lengths and a handful of EPs since their debut in 1989. Still, they’re highly revered among those versed in their work, and it’s not hard to see why.

Dahmer was released on Halloween in 2000. Like all of their work, it’s about a serial killer, but this album was a first for Macabre in that it’s a concept album, not a collection of songs about different serial killers. Dahmer isn’t strictly a metal album, as Macabre dips a bit into hardcore punk quite a bit. The lyrics are another example of Macabre’s great black humor, and most songs don’t stick around long enough to get stale, as there are 26 tracks in just 52 minutes. A few songs stick out as filler (the 20-second “Media Circus” in particular- I correctly guessed its tune just from the title), but most are fairly solid. I thought that “Blood Bank,” “Drill Bit Lobotomy,” “McDahmer’s,” “Scrub a Dub Dub” and “Christopher Scarver” were the catchiest tunes on the album.

Most of the songs are played quite fast, although they do slow it down a bit for “Scrub a Dub Dub”. The songwriting dips from the “gory nursery rhyme parody” one too many times for my tastes, but all the songs are over quickly so nothing really drags. The musicianship is pretty good, with Corporate Death’s guitars and Nefarious’ bass being strong throughout, but I thought Dennis the Menace’s drumming was pretty workmanlike (with the exception of a few tracks). The production is quite good; producer Neil Kernon knew how to make the songs sound gritty without being muddy, and contributes a solo to the song “Jeffrey Dahmer Blues”. This is my favorite album in Macabre’s all-too-small catalogue, and I would recommend it to people who enjoy comedic metal, as well as bands who mix punk elements into metal well.

Originally posted at metal-jerks.com