Death Valley High
CVLT [AS FVK]
(Minus Head)
CVLT [AS FVK] really shouldn’t work as well as it does. This is purposely obnoxious, repetitive, loud as Hell throwback industrial hard rock with a Goth punk aesthetic. It’s one of those things that sounds truly awful when you describe it or think too long about it. However, when “Warm Bodies” starts playing, you’re pretty much hooked. It’s still a tad problematic, with its title being grossly overused throughout, but hot damn is it pretty catchy. Then, the hip-shaking bass-line hooks you further on “Psalm Bitch”. Really, what makes Death Valley High’s latest record so endearing is how clearly they dive deep in with supreme confidence. Their sound is all 90s: somewhere in the middle of a Venn Diagram with Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, and, I don’t know, maybe 3OH!3 (or someone equally as lyrically brash). There’s also the sense that 80s industrial and late 90s nu-metal played a part here, but it’s a musical mash-up that isn’t one that I expected to work. Of course, it doesn’t always play out perfectly well, as a number of tunes (“Ick Switch” and “The Bad Book” to name two) just feel off, like they walked too close to the edge of the musical cliff. Repetition certainly is part of the tight rope, as it leads to catchy hooks and cloying obnoxiousness in equal measure.
That’s really the ultimate point with CVLT [AS FVK]. All the ideas that Death Valley High cram into it here are either excellent or awful. There’s no middle ground here, unfortunately. So while it’s impressive that the group were able to make this mess remotely palatable, it’s more of a case of something really working or failing in equal measure. It’s laudable how much is ridiculously hook and fun, though.
