CD Review: Bunglr – “The Nature of Being New” (Innerstrength Records)
As Samuel L. Jackson famously said in Jurassic Park,
‘hold onto your butts.’ And you best strap in and hold on tight as you embark
on Bunglr’s latest, The Nature of Being
New, as nothing short of sheer unhinged lunacy awaits. How Bunglr frontman Greg
Kolb still has functioning vocal chords after recording The Nature of Being New is a mystery because his throat-shredding
delivery is madness personified (“Finders Keepers, Takers Leavers” is a haze of
distorted guitars, frenzied screams and loud cymbal crashes, strenuous vocal
refrains reign supreme on the rifftastic “Double Gare,” “Rotting Fruit (Is for
the Birds)” is the definition of chaos, the guitar bridge midway through
“Closest Confident” is perfection). The
Nature of Being New is so maniacal in fact that when the band lightens
things up on “Dead Breath,” it’s incredibly jarring. But don’t worry because
you’re quickly returned to your regularly scheduled program on the following
“Smooth Hysteria.” Also, the penultimate “Opia” is a thick cut of
doom-and-gloom and (spoiler alert) The
Nature of Being New ends with someone enjoying a bag of chips during “Feed
Him Gravel.” Yes, this record is really that metal. At the end of The Nature of Being New’s 32 minutes,
your head is going to ache, your ears are going to throb and your asshole is
going to bleed, and not necessarily in that order.
Grade: A-
Go Download: “Rotting Fruit (Is for the Birds)”
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