Satan Stole My Teddy Bear Review of Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel’s Nail, Jan 2000
Nail
1985/1995
Thirsty Ear
Having continually improved his actual recording techniques over the course of three bizarre and outright weird albums, Jim “Foetus” Thirlwell finally hit his stride on Nail. Combining a sense of movie soundtracks with his definite twisted mentality of violence and audio terror, Nail has a very strong, lush sound and more unifying theme than previous albums. There is still the rhythmic percussive assault but it is very much filled out with the sounds of an “orchestra” and tends to allow the songs to move much more smoothly. Naturally Thirlwell’s vicious ranting is still in full force throughout the album. In fact, the liner notes contain a lengthy diatribe that suggests that someone was a bit pissy when he wrote it, not to mention unbalanced. Nail features a couple exceptionally fun rants: “DI-1-9026” is aggressive and threatening while “Anything (viva!)” is a mantra of violence and hatred. Balanced with “Theme From Pigdom Come” and “The Overture From Pigdom Come”, the hostility is tempered with a bit of calm and warmth, which of course increases the weirdness factor of the album on a whole. Given the state of mind of Nail, this album can be both a bit uncomfortable yet compelling throughout. With a record such as this, the only thing you can do is wade right into the raging river and swim for your life. Definitely an aural treat.
Track listing:
1. Theme from pigdom come
2. The throne of agony
3. !
4. Pigswill
5. Descent into the inferno
6. Enter the exterminator
7. DI-1-9026
8. The overture from pigdom come
9. Private war
10. Anything (viva!)
Review by John Chedsey.