One thought on “Ghoul: Dungeon Bastards-2016.”

1. Kringelorde, December 27th, 2016
   Written based on this version: 2016, CD, Tankcrimes

   This is perhaps my most anticipated album of the year. And it tries really hard to be a masterpiece.

   Ghoul is one of those bands that never really hit their stride. Their first two albums are cult classics, being hefty grindcore LP’s with influences of crossover thrash and even surf rock. It was an odd combination that made more sense with the release of Splatterthrash, the album that lowered the intensity of the grindcore, added more thrash elements, and gave us a suitable successor to GWAR, with goofy sci-fi world building and punky/thrash riffs. Then things kinda went to shit. Transmission Zero put the band in an odd place, with such boring repetitive riffs and not very interesting lyrical content, it was just plain boring. The follow up EP Hang Ten was a marginal improvement, but it looked like Ghoul might have actually ran out of ideas… the Dungeon Bastards hits the scene, the first single “Ghoulunatics” is released, and everything is suddenly right with the world. At least, for the time being. But now the wait is over, and I have come to explain to the world why Dungeon Bastards should be a masterpiece, but isn’t.

   First things first, everything about Dungeon Bastards should be flawless. Compared to their previous works, it seems like Ghoul understands what they should sound like. This time around, the grindcore elements return. The guitars are down-tuned a bit more, the riffs are intentionally erratic on most of the tracks, and those double bass blast beats make a return. The great thing about Dungeon Bastards, however, is that it mimics that hefty grind sound, but makes sure to back it off enough to give that legit thrash/crossover sound more of an edge, rather than using it to go overboard and change genres again. Overall, it’s a great decision. The guitars blast though your speakers, the bass isn’t to high or nonexistent, and the drums are on point. It’s a great sounding LP, but the riff and music content can vary throughout the LP.

   This is one of the unfortunate cases where a single song released can break the LP. If “Ghoulunatics” wasn’t released, this LP would probably have fared better, and I could separate myself from it. But the fact of the matter is: “Ghoulunatics” is the best song on the record and gives a weak example of what the record is, and what it should have been. “Ghoulunatics” is a faster track with elements of power metal on top of the already diverse song influences, and it’s easily one of the best songs of the year on top of it all. But a good chunk of the LP falls into the trap that Transmission Zero set. It’s the same chords (usually G, F, and B in there somewhere) played in slightly different “death march” patterns, and it just gets repetitive. When the songs don’t even really make an effort to change up tones and style as much as Ghoul usually attempts, it just comes off as boring. Thankfully only two tracks “Blood and Guts” and the opening track “Ghetto Blasters” really play this pattern up, but it can be found in almost every song as in interlude or bridge. It’s just as enjoyable when it seems like the only pattern the band can make for a section with no vocals is G, F, and B.

   Despite everything I just said, I still had a ton of fun with Dungeon Bastards even if it is on the short side. It clocks in at a little over half an hour, which is a normal length for Ghoul, but it would have been nice to have some more world building tracks like “Word is Law”. I would have loved to see these guys pull off something like GWAR’s “America Must Be Destroyed” with the catchy fun of songs like “Morality Squad” and “Ham on the Bone”. Regardless, when the band isn’t resorting to old tricks, they make plenty good use of their new sound. The grind sections aren’t overbearing, the crossover bits aren’t flawless, but it’s a ton of fun to scream along and bang your head to the agro beat.

   Everything on this album reeks of the band trying their absolute hardest to make a masterpiece of a record. What Dungeon Bastards ends up being is a flawed record that attempts to stick its toe into the waters of old meets new, and only succeeds in making a nice sounding grind/thrash/crossover record with a nice mixing, and wasted potential in terms of world building and atmosphere.

   TL;DR: Get this album. It’s very well made, but in the midst, lost some of the fun Ghoul used to have.

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