Is This Metal?

by Gunther Reynolds, Founder/Editor-in-Chief

Have you heard of Abysmal Crucifix? I haven't. For some reason, they sent this little fledgling magazine a review copy of their album Star Sex. Upon listening to it, I wondered, "Is this metal?"

I did a little research, and indeed, they are slowly gaining prominence on the south end of the coast for their "eccentric" live performances. When Girth McDürchstein isn't cajoling impressionable women into dropping acid on stage and having sex with him, guitarist Little Riffs Nicky will collapse and go into wild convulsions.

And yet...this album is not heavy metal. It's a little bit arty, a little bit poppy, but with a harder edge than either category would suggest. Not much harder, though. Like a dull paring knife in a drawer full of brand-new razor blades, Star Sex is a fun, tuneful effort that rarely approaches the threshold of aggression required for me to consider it metal.

Grade: C-

Reprinted from Hardchord Magazine, February/March 1996