Pungent Stench – Ampeauty
Nuclear Blast Records – September 13th, 2004
By Jason Jordan
I imagine the members of
Pungent Stench hung-over while being led sleepily into a room full of musical instruments. It is here, even though their minds were hazy, that they composed the entirety of the black humor-laced
Ampeauty. The band’s latest is filled with sludge and often iterates laziness, which isn’t necessarily a negative attribute. However, the amalgamation of all the aforesaid elements doesn’t sit too well with me, sans black humor.
“Lynndie (She-Wolf of Abu Ghraib)” fades in and expectantly coils itself into one main riff. The vox are gravelly to the point of annoyance. I would’ve preferred a more cohesive vocal tone (and arrangement), but the former complaint doesn’t muster enough clout to be considered the album’s downfall; no, it’s merely a detriment. “Invisible Empire” begins with noteworthy instrumentation. Here, the band is overtly groove-oriented. Slow
Kataklysm down, and half the group’s talent to arrive at a sound like “Invisible Empire.” “The Amp Hymn,” as misleading as it may be, is not about objects used for amplification. It’s basically about sexually assaulting amputees, the handicapped, or both. “The Passion of Lucifer” follows: the song gets cool at the 1:40 minute mark but – ten seconds later – loses its redeeming quality. “Got Milf?” kind of wanders at first, though the tempo does speed up momentarily. “Human Garbage” commences with proverbial, China crashes and sludges along with guitar variations punctuating the foreground. “No Guts, No Glory” has the double-bass affront in place as slow riffs cascade through and through. “Same Shit – Different Asshole” is much more antagonistic than anything else on
Ampeauty, in my opinion. And, “Fear the Grand Inquisitor” melds all elements
Pungent Stench uses.
My stance on
Ampeauty can’t remain too ambiguous, so I have to say that I didn’t overly enjoy the aforementioned dish.
Pungent Stench just weren’t enticing, but they aren’t as bad as their name suggests.
7/10
Official Pungent Stench website
Official Nuclear Blast Records website
