The Accused 

The Curse of Martha Splatterhead

Southern Lord 2009

Seattle's punk metal crossover legends, The Accused have returned from the grave with their first album in over 6 years.  Their sloppy metal-punk hybrid sound was termed Splatter rock and that description fit their music to a tee.  So how does their new album stand up to their old material?  Well I guess it is a mixed bag of sorts.  Gone is the energetic and dirty sloppiness that epitomized the splatter part of their style and in its place is a tighter, more razor-sharp metal style.  A tongue-in-cheek cheesy horror attitude still reigns supreme however the sound is decidedly more metallic and crisper.  Take the aggressive skull-splitting riffs on album opener, The Splatterbeast.  A gargantuan riff opens the track and then a frenzied slice of uptempo guitars and drums shaves the skin from your corpse.  Stomped to Death features frantic sawing riffs and the B.R.A.D.'s characteristically delirious vocal rampage.  He rages like a rabid zombie.  Festival of Flesh is probably my favorite track on the album with its bouncy thrash riff dramatic chugging in the song's innards.  Whereas Hemline has a speedy punk feel to it and a bit of hyper energy to its execution.  Martha's Disciples' main riff is sort of like a punked-up Kreator riff and features a lethargic chorus and funky bass guitar break.  And in typical punk fashion, the songs are lightning quick with the whole album of 14 tracks clocking in at 29 minutes.  The Accused can still pen some great tracks but the overall raw muddiness and loosely controlled chaos of their early, classic work has been lost.  So if that is something you were hoping to find, instead you'll find some crisp guitar production and metallized precision in its place.  Though, not too precise.  heh heh.