Recommend

Album Details

• Artist: The Lords Of Outland
• Album: You Can Sleep When You're Dead
• Label: Edgetone
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: Mike Wood on 2008-02-20
• Viewed: 764 times

Sax devil Rent Romus again pushes the boundaries in a genre that has few to begin with. "You Can Sleep When You're Dead" is atonal jazz freakouts, with ominous rhythms that evoke metal and funk. Heading the quartet-which includes Ray Scheaffer on a brutal six-string electric bass-Romus controls the chaos with his reeds, now slowing things to a dirge, now shredding new paths of psychosis.

Most of the tracks are short, and all come in under seven minutes, but the fury of ideas and sonic assault to be found on these nine face-slaps are intense and impressive. Just a few of those that will stay with me on long drives this week include "Do-gooders can run but they cant hide," "Gasburger Sheep Slaughterhouse,"  "How to be a good citizen in 3 easy steps," "The Demonic Circus of Certified Insular Asshogs"-the latter a title that most death metal bands ought to kick themselves for not thinking of first.

Lords of Outland's previous release, "Culture of Pain," was a fun and scary set of monster tunes that perfectly set the stage for this great release. Think of the two of them as a free jazz Creature Double Feature, and tip your hat to Romus, his sax and accordion, and his fearless exploration of sonic insanity.

User Reviews and Comments

Review or Comment

Log In or Register to Rate Albums

on 2008-03-17 digitalbath Said:

Album name seems oddly similar to EL-P's "I'll Sleep When You're Dead."

Coincidence?
Not Rated