The Melvins — Tarantula Heart
Tarantula Heart is the 27th studio album from The Melvins. It sees the four-piece US rock band birthing one of the more unpredictable and at points downright experimental albums to date.
As with all of the band's output over the last twenty-plus years it appears on Mike Paton co-founded label Ipecac Recordings. It’s available in five varieties - black vinyl, Puke green vinyl, neon violet vinyl, silver-streaked vinyl, or CD. I’m reviewing the last of these, which comes in an orange, red, and black mini gatefold- it features on its front cover a peaked black grown death-like figure carrying a heart through a bloody rainstorm. With a glossy inlay booklet furthering the cover story in visual form.
The line-up for this album is King Buzzo- guitar, vocals, assorted noise. Steven McDonald- bass, vocals. Dale Crover- Drums, Vocals. Roy Mayorga- Drums, Arp 2600. With guests Gary Chester( Moist Fist, WE Are The Asteroid)- guitar. Gareth Turner (Anthroprophh, The Big Naturals, Salope)- backing vocals. Toshi Kasai( Anywhere, Deaf Nephews)- backing vocals.
The album kicks off with the epic “Pain Equals Funny”- this just over nineteen-minute track moves from melodic/ almost country-tinged rock chugging. Onto percussive-centred industrial doom metal, though strung- yet rather taut jam-out. Before resolving on a layered/slightly spaced chugging rock out.
As we move through the album we have the wonderfully entitled “ She’s Got Weird Arms”- which finds angular to triumphant riff craft, dense percussive, and vocal harmonies- with the track shifting between the devilish malevolent & quirky rocking. The album plays out with “Smiler” which is sort of a halfway house between gunning doom meta & pacy -if- -ghoulish- galloping punk rock with noise edges
I’d say Tarantula Heart is very much of a grower. On the first few plays through I was unsure about the lengthy opener, and the general structure/flow of the whole album. But the more I’ve played it, the more it makes its own odd sense- much like The Melvins themselves.