Dr. LivingDead! – Thrashing the Law 2008 – 77%

Dr. Livingdead is this tiny thrash/crossover band. Their style is essentially a parody of the thrash ideals that spewed out of the 80s. The songs are all roughly 2 minutes or slightly longer, and all feature thrash riffs that are easy to like. None of the riffs are doing anything original, but they are riffs that haven’t quite been done before. They’re staying in a fairly safe zone with the riffage by not trying anything too fancy or eclectic. The riffage is as simple and straightforward as it gets. Gremlin’s Night shows off quite a bit of Anthrax influence, with a splash of Disposable Heroes. Imagine that with vocals along the lines of Mike Muir and Tom Araya doing a duet, which are singing about furry animals terrifying the night. Enter some slow and pulverizing breakdowns ala Slayer’s South of Heaven and you’ve got a recipe for a great live moshing tune.  The drums don’t stray far from the Slayer formula either.  There isn’t anything remotely remarkable about the drums. They just bang along with the thrashing. You can tell the drummer is talented though. He knows how to play competently.

I Need Thrash (Not You!) continues in the very same Slayer influenced immature Suicyko style. The riffs aren’t incredibly fast, and keep a slight Creeping Death pace to them. Kindergarten Cop (as you might imagine) featues samples from the movie, and lyrics about it. The song Dr. Living Dead has some fast thrashy parts, but they’re pretty sparcely laid out among the more boring slow parts that have meanduring riffs.

Kerry Burger King is probably the greatest song here, being an all-out Slayer parody. There’s some Angel of Death screaming, some South of Heaven riffing, some Seasons in the Abyss vocals, and lyrics about Kerry King’s fat ass needing greasy onion rings to play his guitar solos fast. There’s also a great parody of Piece by Piece in both lyrics, and riffage:

THE ONLY WAY TO TASTE THIS, IS GOING CHEESE BY CHEESE!

(I think thats what he says. Thats what it sounds like.)

The song cuts off at about 1:20, and a few seconds later an Iron Maiden parody starts up. It’s an abbreviated (and badly out of tune) version of Caught Somewhere In Time, complete with cheap/cheesy sounding keyboards mimicking trumpets.

Honestly, what more can be said about 6 songs that come out to 13 minutes? It’s competent modern crossover that mimicks its influences in a complete, satisfying swoop. Plus, it’s free! You can download it from their official website. It’s a fun listen, that’s for sure. Being 13 minutes however, means you shouldn’t take it seriously. I don’t even know if this band is for real. They’ve released 2 13 minute demos that share the exact same sense of humor.

Nothing ground breaking, but you’d be retarded to think it ever could have been in the first place.