The Brains

Gothic, horror, hard rock band The Brains have recently (not too recently though) released their newest CD, Hell N’ Back upon an unsuspecting music scene. Judging by the artwork, one would expect to be sonically assaulted by a Death Metal band; but this is not the case at all. Musically, the disc is a series of well crafted, hard-hitting tunes with influences ranging from the Ramones and Danzig to Gwar and the Misfits with a bit of Rock-a-Billy thrown in for good measure. The tracks are heavy, yet extremely hook-laden and catchy. In no time at all you will find yourself singing along to tunes with titles such as “Zombie Riot,” “Dead Corpses,” and “Taste Of Your Blood.”

Thematically, donning horrific looking costumes that make them look like something out of Night Of The Living Dead, band members Frankie O’Brain, Rene El Brain and Johnny Montreal make references to all things macabre and nothing is sacred as far a lyrical content is concerned. This is evident in the song “Scream For Me” where Rene proclaims, “there’s a bride that’s made/from 13 different graves/I shocked her into life/my electric undead wife/my horror queen/I’ll make you scream.”

To make things even more interesting, a few of the songs are sung entirely in Spanish including the gang background vocals. One only wonders what the subject matter of these tunes are if the band felt the need to sing them in a different language.

Overall this is an very intriguing disc. At first I was not sure if I should take the band seriously because, I am not sure they even take themselves seriously. But after a few listens, despite the tongue in cheek B movie horror lyrics, there is some very good playing; even if at times they appear to be on the brink of losing control, similar to riding a runaway train. Rene’s voice is good, his guitar playing is even better and the gang vocals are just plain fun.  [ END ]

Track Listing:

01. Hell N’ Back
02. Scream For Me
03. More Brains
04. She My Devil
05. Blood
06. Six Feet
07. Bones
08. No More
09. Vamos
10. Zombie Walk
11. Zombie Riot
12. Lost
13. Live AT Chaos
14. No Brain, No Pain
15. Full Moon Overseas
16. Black Jacket Death Bet
17. Taste Your Blood
18. One Step Forward
19. 20 Beers
20. Train
21. Little Drinks
22. Dead Corpses
23. Don’t Wanna
24. So Glad That It Is Over
25. Crazy Paradise

Run Time: 1:09:00