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German punk provocateurs Heavy Metal are back with a brand new LP and first for Total Punk. Over the last four years Heavy Metal has put out four absolutely essential albums and we are proud as pudding to have them back on the TOTAL PUNK train. Heavy Metal isn't a heavy metal band, Live at the Gas Station isn't a live album (they refuse to even play live), and opener Motorhead has nothing to do with Lemmy or his mole. Such is the audacious and absurd world of Heavy Metal. Leading off with the reverb blanketed JAMC vibing 'Motorhead.' For a band that embraces putting their filthy lint covered stamp on any and all musical genres the soft dreamy touches of the album opener leaves us asking "Has Heavy Metal cut it's hair?" Before you have time to answer, the boys fill the tank, drop the clutch, and kick into the HUBBLIN BUBBLIN 'Motorbike' and rarely let up for the remainder of the LP. Occasionally wandering into the weird and warbled on tracks like 'No Air', 'I Am Something', and the hypnotic lurch of 'Centipede Venom.' However 'V:Live at the Gas Station Fighting the Devil' spends most of its time daring us to herk, jerk, spazz out, and let loose. Party music for party mutants. 100% TOTAL PUNK
Our take: If you thought Heavy Metal’s well of inspiration ran dry after they dropped their fourth album, a 24-track double, in late 2019, then think again. V - Live At The Gas Station pares things back to a svelte 12 tracks, but they are all certified bangers. Heavy Metal’s silly name, robust discography, and irreverent lyrics might lead you to think their music is inconsistent or underdeveloped, but there isn’t a moment I’d shave off this record. The shoegaze/Britpop song called “Motorhead,” the oi!-ish “Boots of 69” (I think I heard the lyric “skinheads break wind” somewhere in there), and the classic melodic punk of “Bored Into My Mind” are all essential, but even the weirder moments like “Centipede Venom” and the obligatory off the wall cover (“Burning Love,” retitled “Gebrannte Amore”) are perfect, and would be the highlights of a lesser band’s album. Like their spiritual brethren ISS, Heavy Metal’s music is poppy enough to have you singing along by the second listen, but so dense and intricately crafted that it’ll take hours of turntable time to wrap your mind around it. If you love punk rock with hooks, wit, and energy, you should listen to Heavy Metal. And if you’ve already been buying Heavy Metal’s records, V is certainly not the place you want to stop.
Our take: If you thought Heavy Metal’s well of inspiration ran dry after they dropped their fourth album, a 24-track double, in late 2019, then think again. V - Live At The Gas Station pares things back to a svelte 12 tracks, but they are all certified bangers. Heavy Metal’s silly name, robust discography, and irreverent lyrics might lead you to think their music is inconsistent or underdeveloped, but there isn’t a moment I’d shave off this record. The shoegaze/Britpop song called “Motorhead,” the oi!-ish “Boots of 69” (I think I heard the lyric “skinheads break wind” somewhere in there), and the classic melodic punk of “Bored Into My Mind” are all essential, but even the weirder moments like “Centipede Venom” and the obligatory off the wall cover (“Burning Love,” retitled “Gebrannte Amore”) are perfect, and would be the highlights of a lesser band’s album. Like their spiritual brethren ISS, Heavy Metal’s music is poppy enough to have you singing along by the second listen, but so dense and intricately crafted that it’ll take hours of turntable time to wrap your mind around it. If you love punk rock with hooks, wit, and energy, you should listen to Heavy Metal. And if you’ve already been buying Heavy Metal’s records, V is certainly not the place you want to stop.