At one of my many trips to the second hand music shop, I
always made it a point to spend a few minutes to peruse the dollar bin, which
was just a large basket of unorganized CDs. Everything from metal to gospel
albums could be found in that mishmash of a bin and every now and then, I’d
find something that would peak my interest. One day, while tossing aside CD
after CD, I stumbled across one with a peculiar album cover. I looked like some
sort of demonic carnival with two ghouls enjoying a roller coaster ride from
hell. With a name like Haunted Garage, I wasn’t sure what to make, but with the
cover art alone, I figured this might be some form of heavy metal. When I
noticed the Metalblade Records label, I figured I couldn’t go wrong, especially
for only a buck. Or so I thought.
To get right into it, Haunted Garage play a blend of punk,
hard rock. On their sole album, the combine the elements of punk, thrash and
hard rock with some bluesy overtones to create a crossover thrash sound. The guitars,
for the most part, are minimalistic and dry. The riffs are simplified down to a
single chord or two, offering little in the ability to hook the listener, while
they also show much in the way of rhythm or crating any catchy harmonies. The
drums, sounding more on the hard rock side of the spectrum, may not be anything
groundbreaking, but provide the only sense of rhythm for the songs. The bass is
surprisingly audible, but for the most part, it simply plays right along with
the guitars, preventing it from standing out in any way. The vocals, performed
by Dukey Flyswatter (Michael Sonye) has a nice raspy voice for this kind of
punky crossover sound. He sings with a lot of speed and intensity and at times
his rasps remind me of Steve Souza or even Bobby Blitz. Their spunky nature certainly
adds to the overall humor of the album and provides a much needed punch that
most of the songs lack.
The only two times where I can say safely that everything comes
together as a well-rounded effort would be on “Little Green Men” and “Party in
the Graveyard”. Both are punk driven, crossover sounding songs, with catchy choruses.
The drums and guitars actually play together and produce a few decent rhythms
while Sonye’s vocals on full display, showcasing the sound and humor within each
song.
Overall, Haunted Garage play similar humor metal that fans
of Green Jello and old GWAR and if you’re into the theatrics of such shtick,
you might get a kick out of. For my tastes, the album lacks much in the lasting
effects department, but the overall fun and humor that this style of metal is
all about has its place, just not in my collection. At the end of the day,
unless you truly love humor mixed with punky-crossover, “Possession Park”
proves that sometimes, if it’s in the dollar bin, it belongs, it’s there for
good reason.
*The band can be seen in the Sci-fi flick,
"Cyclone", while Sonye has acted in the film Surf Nazis Must Die.
Highlights: "Party In the Graveyard" “Little Green
Men”
Rating: 1.5
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