Review by Ryan on June 26, 2014.

Ghoul are a bunch of sarcastic, snide, belligerent assholes. Lucky for me that they’re also charismatic, clever, and know exactly when to play things straight and let the joke speak for itself.

Humor and metal are often tenuous allies. You have to (pun intended) strike the right note, and you must know and love the culture before you can make fun of it. The mockery must fit the music, and present a theme of “this thing is really sad, or creepy, or stupid, or weird, and here is why something is wrong with me for loving it.” Imagine doing all of this in a legitimate metal song, and you see the challenge we’re up against here.

Hang Ten is a mean little EP that succeeds because it mines a dirty little secret: extreme metal guitar techniques owe a LOT to the surf guitar players of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Ghoul bastardize this theme into a bizarre fantasy where pissed-off greasers and biker gangs worship at the altar of Dick Dale and give an extra headbang on that second snare beat.

This (mostly) instrumental EP isn’t entirely original. Sacred Reich pointed out the link between surf rock and thrash metal as early as 1988 with Surf Nicaragua and Anthrax released a cover of The Ventures Pipeline just a year later. Ghoul, however, realize this absurd confluence with a full conviction to dementia and depravity that puts those earlier efforts in the shadows. The gag is at once gloriously tacky and taken to its proper conclusion, perhaps climaxing with the faux-Iggy Pop mid-track voiceovers on “Sidehackers” - a tune named after a gleefully bad b-movie. Combine this with album art straight from the tradition of Ed Roth’s “Ratfink,” and I’ll bet someone here is a big fan of White Zombie’s La Sexorcisto.

The six songs are all short, and maintain Ghoul’s reputation as a thrash band (this is the first time I’ve listened to an entire release by them) angled squarely at the target of “beer metal.” Their obnoxious humor and liver-destroying riffs overcome any deficiencies of uniqueness, putting a grin on my face and a gun to my head. Is this a lost weekend that nobody will remember? Probably, but I imagine there are also incriminating photos that will draw some nostalgic chuckles.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Adam M on March 17, 2017.

Nailed to Obscurity brings the doom metal to the forefront on King Delusion.   The doom metal here has similarities to My Dying Bride, but brings its own unique view to the table. The vibe of the band is similarly downtrodden even if they don’t use the violins. There could also be parallels made to other bands like Draconian, but the bottom line is that there is definitely some death metal to be mixed with the doom metal.

The atmosphere created by the band is powerful and all consuming. There are some great performances put on display here. The guitars weave the threads of melodramatic riffs with a lot of compassion and energy. The vocalist is bleak and fits the music perfectly. The drumming provides a solid background to the remainder of the music. All in all, the band is cohesive and pulls together to form a whole in a wonderful fashion. The melodramatic aura of the outfit is captured from the first track 'King Delsusion' which does a nice job opening up the proceedings. The second track 'Protean' introduces some nice clean portions to the mix. If there is a negative to be found here, it’s that the band maintains their mood, but doesn’t go overboard to find something completely phenomenal. The music thus coasts along feeling complete even though it could be reaching into higher territories to become more ingenious and interesting. Still, for a doom band, the music here is appropriate and captures the correct aura. It just seems that things could be pushed in more compelling directions at times.

When compared directly to Draconian and My Dying Bride, the band successfully brings a similar, but still unique sound to the proceedings. As a doom album this is thus a successful venture that has appropriate amount of feeling and emotional depth. Congratulations to Nailed to Obscurity on creating a beast of an effort with King Delusion.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10