5 out of 5

Label: Birdman Records

Producer: J.G. Thirlwell

And then we get dark again.  The Foetus albums are an up-and-down rollercoaster of snarky smiles and quips and evil grumbles, a sense of humor generally buoyant somewhere right near the surface, Thirlwell’s playful mixing of samples and circus rhythms and vaudevillian vignettes with his industrial stomp leaning left or right toward a more mainstream song-structure or ear-rattling experimentation.  He did the major label bid, and he’s certainly done his tour of the underground and twisted enough knobs to have a dash of every side of this business.  After a pause, he returned with the most innocently titled ‘Love’, which finds Thirlwell’s executing some of his most interesting vocal work – avoiding his throaty rumble until key moments when tracks explode, or manipulating his voice to even eviler levels, or balancing Jennifer Charles’ amazing supporting work with the devastating tune on which she’s featured.  Lyrically, the playful snips or purposeful offenses have been tossed aside, but there’s no depreciation in effectiveness.  If anything, the straight-forward sadness of tracks like “Don’t Want Me Anymore” or the powerful chorus of something like “Aladdin Reverse”, which draws you in to examine the more contemplative thoughts in the song, make me hear the words and music together, whereas the notable Thirlwell sound usually gets my toe tapping or head banging before I start to sift through the evil mood to hear what’s being said.  That sound is certainly here, but it’s been slowed down.  ‘Love’ feels like a more thoughtful album in general, where every note and beat is meant to be felt.  As usual, there’s a sense of doom behind everything, but it’s weightier.  Thrirlwell earned this record through some pains, and it definitely comes across, culminating in the devastating closer “How to Vibrate.”

There are many Foetus albums I love, and they all have a unique pitch to them, while sharing the influences of their one-man-band Thirlwell.  ‘Love’ wouldn’t have worked as a first album.  It works, amazingly, as a result of everything that’s come before, and was hopefully a release for what followed.