Review by Carl on September 16, 2020.

Industrial metal, how much more 90's can you get without bringing Fred Durst into the equation? The late 80's and early to mid 90's saw quite a lot of these bands emerging, fusing metal riffing to pounding drum machine rhythms and samples. Both the US and the UK had their kind of style, with the English acts tending towards the groundwork laid out by the mighty Godflesh and their US counterparts usually taking their cues more from NIN and Ministry. There are exceptions of course, Skin Chamber, Soulstorm (I know, I know, they're Canadian, but you get the point) and this here Puncture.

Puncture offer up some pounding industrial metal on their debut album, but the influence of US leading lights like the aforementioned NIN and Ministry only shines through occasionally. The basis for the music is, again, Godflesh but Puncture takes this and runs with it, adding a lot more other ingredients to the pretty volatile mix. On top of the death metal riffing and the barked vocals the band sprinkles the influence of industrial originators like Front Line Assembly and Skinny Puppy. Weird sounds and sampled spoken word passages are interwoven throughout the album, setting a menacing atmosphere.

The band has managed to craft their songs in a way that each track has a face of it's own without making the album sound like a compilation record. From the Voivod riffing in 'Nailed to a Cross' and 'American Dream', the Front Line Assembly stomp in 'Youth gone Mild' and the EBM/rave intro to 'Procession', each track has something to distinguish it from the other. And boy, did somebody really like the Public Enemy album "It Takes a Nation of Millions ..." because I heard different samples off of it throughout. All their influences come together in a solid frame of drum machine driven Godflesh-isms and in their heavier moments Puncture also brings to mind the first Fear Factory album as well as Meathook Seed's debut. This is solid and varied industrial metal from a band that perhaps deserves more recognition than it gets.

If I have to make a point of critique it is that the album lasts a bit too long. Perhaps the band could have left off a track like 'Craft' that lasts too long and isn't such an interesting song either. With music that aims for relentless intensity like this, it's probably a good idea to keep it short and focused. Other than that, this is a remorseless piece of death-infused industrial hostility sure to please those into acts like Skrew, G.G.F.H., mid 90's Front Line Assembly and Sonic Violence.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Jack on September 24, 2002.

First up these are some of the most unorthodox and queer lyrics I have ever had the pleasure (or displeasure) of reading from an album booklet. Craw as some of you may be familiar with are composed of some parts of Keelhaul, and play an infectious of brand of hardcore/metal hard rock that is fast, heavy, energetic, grinding, slimy, and perky. Yet their new album “Bodies for Strontium 90” is often all of the above adjectives at the same time. Perhaps this gives some indication to the chaos and misanthropy that Craw induce when listening.

At their core, Craw deliver an album that is wild and very hard to work out what it is about. I have had this album for a bit over a month or so and I am still trying to work out where it is going. For instance vocalist Joe McTigh is something of a schizophrenic when it comes to barking out the tunes. One time he can be singing (term used loosely) perfectly in tune with a song (see ‘Caught My Tell’) and the next track he will be shouting or moaning some whimsical crap about the most trivial topics. For instance the song ‘Sex’ starts off with the opening line of ‘Walking through the park one day exercising the hairy eyeball in May I spied a startling example of female...” Pretty interesting, eh, if not a little left field?

That, of course it just a fraction of what Craw has to offer the world. “Bodies for Strontium 90” has been the hardest album I have ever reviewed. I love it, but I can’t really write down an accurate critique of it. It does so much. Pulls so many strings. And the lyrics are simply out of this world. How any sane mind can come up with the lyrical crap on “Bodies for Strontium 90” is well beyond me.

Bottom Line: “Bodies for Strontium 90” contains some of the freakiest tunes I have been exposed to. Ever. Craw twist and weave through 9 songs of trivial topics that are ‘enlightened’ with some of the coolest song-writing and music ever done for a record in this style. I don’t even know if I like this type of music normally. I just know I love this album. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. “Bodies for Strontium 90” is an essential buy.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 8
Originality: 10
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Review by Mandeep Arora on May 5, 2024.

After unleashing the evil of Abigail and setting the metal world on fire, the boys at King Diamond had the most daunting task at hand: come up with a follow-up album. And a good one at that. Whether they felt the pressure or not is anyone's guess, but Them, or "Them" if you are the fastidious type, easily has some of the band's best and most recognisable work. With what is arguably their most iconic album cover this side of Abigail, fans must have been left enamoured at the sight of its moody purple hues and a surprising feel-good vibe, only to be horrified at seeing no Michael Denner in the lineup, well-known enough by now and one of the purveyors of the classic Mercyful Fate and King Diamond sound. Lesser conspicuous, but equally important, was the absence of Timi Hansen.

Shouldn't have worried, the fans, as Pete Blakk replacing Denner more than complements the well-established-by-now Andy LaRocque and lends this album its own identity, even though the overall sound is reassuringly familiar. The venerable formula of dual guitar harmonies and abundance of melodious solos is intact, and works very well too. By the fourth song Tea, you are made well aware of the album’s progressive traits, as the songs, for the most part, stroll between fast and medium paced riffs, resort to multiple time signatures, then burst into melodious solos and sometimes even come peppered with acoustic guitar passages for added atmosphere and character. Some songs are outright nefarious both sonically and lyrically, and properly chilling too - The Invisible Guests, Tea, Bye, Bye Missy and The Accusation Chair are the main outliers here.

The story unfolds beautifully and nearly every moment feels spine-chilling, the album getting considerably darker towards the second half. King Diamond's abilities as a storyteller shine the brightest here, so much so that numerous moments on the album almost convince you this has Abigail’s number - like the unreal progression on The Invisible Guests' intro, a fantastic harmony of rhythm, leads and percussion. Or the mind-blowing second half of Bye, Bye Missy where the story gets unhinged and all hell breaks loose, the ensuing chaos for which is beautifully captured. Or the very ominous-sounding opening riff of The Accusation Chair, following which is an equally ominous and wicked song. Or the conspiratorial whispers by "them" on the title track, a sweet little number that's as scary as it's beautiful... When King’s character peeps through the keyhole to witness grandma's crazy antics, you feel a chill running down your spine. When he commits to confront grandma after gaining clarity outside the mansion, you feel the rage flowing through your veins... I think this is the best story on any King Diamond album and the distinction here is that every character seems well-defined. Considering the constraints of packing so many character traits in not very long songs, it appears all the more impressive. If King Diamond’s goal was to make Grandma the baddest, scariest bitch with an intimidation factor more than the Japanese Yakuza or “them” as the ultimate evil and enigmatic entities, then he more than succeeds.

It's an ambitious setup, however, and while conceptually sound, it highlights a slight disconnect with the actual music. Certain sections seem imbalanced and disjointed at times, almost as if the music is playing second fiddle to the story - “Them" seems to focus more on the storytelling aspect and that’s achieved at the expense of some of the songs sounding a bit overkill and excessive. As was the case with Fatal Portrait, King plays a shade more number of characters than Abigail and that means singing in multiple voices - for Grandma, Missy, himself and "them". He sounds distinct for sure and brings the characters alive with his inveterate falsettos, sounding resolute in the most important sections, but also seems to tower over everything else, including guitar leads which take center stage and drown out the rhythm section and drums in the first place. There are moments when you want him to stop his judicial use of falsettos as they start hurting the listening experience a bit - it gets kind of loud and grating, particularly on this album, in spite of a mix that’s flimsy and weak.

The mix is another of the primary offenders. When Mickey Dee welcomes you on, erm, Welcome Home with his drum solo, you expect to be shaken by the intensity of its brute force, only to find that the drums sound horribly tinny and weak. It's not so much the subdued overall sound but the way the drums have been programmed in the mix. Not that any of it stops Dee from making his presence felt and he's always there in the background, punishing the drums in a fit of haughty contempt to match LaRocque and Blakk's insane demands and keeping up with them all throughout. Unfortunately, poor Hal Patino remains obscured most of the time and his basslines are barely audible to make an impact on the listener, making for a rather weak bottom end. But again, it’s got more to do with the mix than with the man’s capabilities.

I think "Them's" biggest undoing is that it immediately follows Abigail, which set a standard so high it automatically became the measuring yardstick for any future albums by the band. "Them" isn't as harmonious a concoction of music and conceptual storytelling as Abigail and struggles in certain areas where the latter is simply seamless and effortless. However, if you can manage to look past these shortcomings, you'll find “Them” to be a thoroughly wonderful and soulful album that continued King Diamond’s streak of excellent records through the eighties. You can't help but be drawn to it, almost blind to its quirks. While Abigail is the better, more rounded, more involving album in my opinion, “Them’s” top-notch and unparalleled storytelling will appeal above all else to some, and if it does, you aren't in the wrong.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10