This is my first real fanboy-esque review, mainly because I really cannot get enough of KILLWHITNEYDEAD (or KWD). Aside from losing my copy of So Plastic, So Pretty (first editions of it were shipped from Tribunal Records in a plastic sleeve instead of a jewel case. TR: Want to ship me another one?), I’ve got their entire discography and it’s awesome from Inhaling The Breath Of A Bullet all the way through So Pretty, So Plastic Chopped and Screwed. You’ll notice that the genre tags for this review are quite extensive only because KWD pull a ton of influence from all types of metal and incorporate them into all of their songs. If you just want something that really rocks and is actually very fun to listen to, I highly suggest you pick up any of their albums. They’re also doing their first ever US tour this summer so check them out.
How do you really describe a band as musically diverse as KWD? I have no idea to be honest but I know one thing: it’s balls-to-the-wall, ass-kicking, blastbeat filled, movie-inspired songs about murder. Seriously, what’s not good about that? There’s also death growls/gurgles, 80s influenced noodlin’ and soloing, great breakdowns, movie soundbytes in every song to give the listener and idea of “what’s ahead”, and songs about killing (ok, every song is about killing). I’ve read a lot of disparaging reviews/comments for So Pretty So Plastic, calling it “uninspired”, “boring”, and “trying to rip off Daughters and other classic grind bands”. I’m sorry, but what? I see the grind connection but it’s an influence, I do not see the “boring” and “uninspired” parts of the music. One thing that people might dislike about KWD is their long track titles (overly used in metalcore/emocore/screamo). Who honestly wants to read something like Liars Like You Live The Shortest Lives (An Open Letter To Imposters) on the back of a jewel case? I know for some people reading the title will take longer than will listening to the song itself. I’ll get off the high horse and talk about the music.
From the beginning of the CD to the end, there are a few things that are common to every song: death growls, movie soundbytes (and an actual voicemail message), blastbeats, killer riffs, and at least one breakdown. The death metal and old school metal influences are very obvious in the music, from the song structure to the serious soloing in a few of the songs. It’s very hard to write about each song since they all have a similar idea: murder, revenge, and defamation of women. I find the heavy use of soundbytes from different movies and television shows to add an extra layer to KWD’s music (they range from The Breakfast Club to American Psycho to The Sopranos) and can give the listener an idea of what the upcoming song is like. For example, during the only “slow” song of the album, Pretty With The Lights Off, the soundbyte is taken from a rape scene in a movie (good luck knowing which movie it is off hand because there are over thirty-five movies/television shows actually cited for a single clip) which segues right into the next track, featuring a classic Jack Nicholson line which is back-dropped by the same heavy breathing rape scene clip in the previous track. This one-liner is a prelude to going off to kill someone and then the song just rolls off into melting your face. Lyrically the song deals with going back in your life and destroying friendships while on your way to full-blown psychopathically burning down a gas station! Possibly the best song on the album Put Your Mouth Where The Money Is is straight up 80s NWOBHM/thrash/death. The close of the song has very Bruce Dickinson-like singing and some awesome noodlin’ that is unexpected as an album closer. For approximately one minute, this song blasts at you straight from 1985 and it’s awesome.
Each outro clip of a song is a seque into the next, giving the album a very tight cohesion aurally. It seems pretty obvious to me that M KWD spent a lot of time with Jamie King (who produced, mixed, and mastered this album) and arranging these songs and samples perfectly and I applaud them both for this effort. I also give M KWD a huge round of applause for completely remixing and remastering this entire album for So Plastic So Pretty (Ed. note: My copy (pre-SPSPCS) is still missing, care to send another?) which is essentially just a remix album featuring all new movie samples and some differing arrangements on some songs. If you bought the first pressing of So Pretty So Plastic, you received the remix album as a bonus and now it’s actually included in …Chopped and Screwed as the last track of the original album thusly doubling the disc’s runtime from 30:17 to over 60 minutes.
Overall, the disc is a real ride through movie-inspired deathgrind and it’s an extremely loud listening experience. I’ve had this album for well over a year and in that time, I’ve almost blown the extremely expensive soundsystem in my car dozens of times from listening to this CD at near peak levels. The Chopped and Screwed edition of this album features new artwork which is very befitting to not only the title change but also the material itself. I love this album immensely and I’m finally getting to see KILLWHITNEYDEAD perform live in July. To sum it up, I’ll say this: KWD are worth losing your hearing for.
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