Psychostick "Revenge of the Vengeance" Review Take 2
Since Google Chrome decided my review wasn't worthy of it and froze mid-conception, I had to resort to switching back to Firefox to complete it. Sadly I no longer have the time to put as much time and effort as I wish I had into the review so I'll try to keep this short and sweet. However, with 21 songs and a gargantuan amount to talk about, this might not be possible so bear with me. If you get bored of my ranting and raving through the album, you can skip down to the TL:DR section at the end, so long as you admit that you suck.
Continuing their theme of silly film titles, Revenge of the Vengeance has the basic groundwork for a movie-themed concept album in its sketches (they call them "skits" but they're more like sketches). The intro to the album sets the tone in its parody of the typical action movie trailer, featuring the low-speaking narrator and the dialogue that references what the narrator already said. There is another teaser midway through the album that exists to tease a title at the end of the album, “Digital Time Portal.” Much in the same way the title track creates a parody trailer for the album, this track creates a humorous tease for what one can assume is the climax of the album. Fortunately for the audience, the movie themes are sparse and do not force the other songs to fit its mold. It’s merely self-referential humor to add space and to tease at other songs.
From the intro, you get exactly what you expect from a Psychostick album: silly songs with awesome, catchy riffs with the occasional topical reference here and there. "Obey the Beard" is the epitome of the classic Psychostick sound: heavy drop-tune guitar riffs, wild slap bass, and energetic drums provide the groundwork for the robust vocals spouting humorous lyrics about how beards make everything better. The skit "H-Flat" and the song "So. Heavy." combine for a scathing critique of deathcore metal bands who strive for "heavier music" with lower tuning and generic screaming. There's even a reference to The Isley Brothers' "Shout," Rawrb (the lead singer) telling the band to go softer and "less brutal" then louder and more brutal in a similar fashion.
The album takes a gentler tone with the song "Blue Screen," which starts out with a melodic bass groove and takes the hard rock slow build to the climactic chorus. This song is especially notable because it showcases an almost Bloodhound Gang amount of nerdy computer puns, which brings to light a subtle genius to Rawrb's juvenile madness. However, this is short-lived, as we are once again reminded this is a Psychostick album with "NSFW," a hilarious song that riffs on Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Beethoven with choruses of "fuck". There's even a cameo by Green JellĂż lead singer Bill Manspeaker, who also makes an appearance in later skits "New to the Neighborhood" and "Trick or Treat".
After "NSFW," the audience is treated to a heavy metal cover of Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone." For me, it's a refreshing update to the mid-80s classic, which is nearing its 30-year anniversary. The only downside to the track is one can clearly tell Rawrb is straining his voice with some of the higher parts of the song. It's not so egregious to detract from the badassitude of the track, but it's hard to ignore. Even with the serious tone of the cover, the guys still manage to sneak in some humor, ending the track with one of their stream pass-times, an a Capella cover of another Top Gun classic, "Take My Breath Away."
After hard-hitting songs like "Loath Thy Neighbor" and "Choking Hazard," which is literally Rawrb growling the words from a "First Aid for choking" sign, we are met with a jovial track about the glorious man among men, Bruce Campbell. It begins with fanfare and praise for the chainsaw-wielding actor but slowly degrades into obsession, much like the person who came up with the song idea on Indiegogo.
After a brief interlude where Manspeaker yells at a bunch of trick-or-treaters, the audience is given the extravagant ending we were hoping for in "Dimensional Time Portal" and "The Power of Metal Compels You," which are essentially two sketches about how Psychostick saves the world from a DIMENSIONAL TIME PORTAL that transports HAUNTED PANTIES to shut off women's sex drive. The only way to smite the portal is with metal, and the metal is brought in a Power Rangers style formation of the four members coming together to make a crushing song. This alone could have ended the album, but it wouldn’t be a Psychostick album without the outtakes at the end. The length of the outtake track is significantly shorter than previous iterations, but in its place you get a humorous advertisement at the end talking about how Psychostick researches and works hard to bring you stupid tracks within the audible range of human hearing. There is a silence, a brief calm, before Rawrb parts with some sage advice: “Go fuck yourself.”
As much as I seem to praise this album, it is not without its faults. Although "Dogs Like Socks" is a good song and easily one of the most popular songs on the album, it's impossible to listen to the track without thinking of the outrageously funny and adorable music video from which the song originates. Without that context, the song doesn't really stand up on its own. It only really serves as a reminder of said video and may provide furries with even lower production value parody ideas.
Aside from that, there are times where the homemade production quality of the album seem to shine through, mainly in dialogue sections. In songs like "Choking Hazard" you can clearly hear the static of the recording, which strangely isn't present in the succeeding song's dialogue. This, however, is a minor critique, as I'm sure most people would not notice it and be caught up in the silliness of the antics.
All knit-picking aside, this is the first Psychostick that feels like a complete album. All the songs are unique and fit perfectly in place (except for “Dogs Like Socks”) and the last three songs do a great job concluding the album. Although the songs may not be as catchy as in previous albums, they are certainly more mature sophisticated nuanced and clever than those of their predecessors and they’re a thrill to listen to all the way through. On a ten-point scale, ten being Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon on acid while watching Planet Earth while one is an Avril Lavigne/Chad Kroeger duet album arranged and produced by Phil Collins, this album gets a solid 8 psychotic ducks out of 10. Is it the best album of the year? Well, I haven’t listened to the new Slipknot album all the way through so…
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