![]() No clear melody to be found here just a whole lot of repeating the same thing and that's not really good music.Ĩ bit music was normally composed by real composers making truly super pieces of art. On the other hand not all the songs chosen here simply work as an 8 bit version (take black metal sucks), it does not fit at all. I found out that I really love the idea, it throws me back to my old gaming habits. So what is this album about then? The band playing covers of their own old songs in a 8 bit video-game music style.ĭoes it work? Well its hit and miss really. And I must admit the artwork printed on the disc itself is pretty neat. But still, the 8-bit representation of the band members all add to a certain charm. The booklet is just a 2 page insert, not surprising considering there are no lyrics to be found here. On to the artwork, having it pictured as a NES game sure tells you whats awaiting you on this album, too bad the drawing doesn't fill the whole picture because that green background is just hideous to look at. What's important is what you get with this release, a fun, gimmicky album that is not for everyone but can be golden if it is. The release is limited to 299 hand-numbered copies, they have some spare copies as well where you get a punched-out bear instead of a number (my copy is like that) but lets be honest, that's not what's important. So it's easy to say Lich King is a safe bet for them. Stormspell has been known to bring out high quality releases of 80 demos and new band playing under the 80s moniker. I bought this album from the label (StormSpell Records) itself. The humor aspect has always played a big part in their lyrics, they are fun but you might not get all their references. They play gimmicky thrash metal influenced by the classic bay area style. So you probably have heard of Lich King by now, if you haven't let me introduce them: The band was founded in 2004. I could recommend it for the ardent fans, but for everyone else, you may want to stick with their 'real' releases. It's silly, it's executed decently well, and it covers a wide range of Lich King hits. If you look at it like that, this album is fairly innocuous and hard to actively dislike. Maybe I'm expecting too much from what was essentially a novelty album for Lich King Fans - something to chew on before the outrageously awesome Born of the Bomb. Cue the sound of frustrated jiggling and blowing into the cartridge, before the song starts anew. For instance, a song suddenly freezes and hangs in one incessant drone, before abruptly shutting off. ![]() After listening to their hilarious cover of 'Hot For Teacher', I expected a similar skit somewhere in this album. Speaking of humbles suggestions to improve the comedy aspect of this comedy album, the trademark Lich King sense of humor is missing in action. Or should I say, "DER AVENSHAS O' BAYU BIRRY". It would've been funny and not even inauthentic to include a few synthesized vocal lines, as fans of The Adventures of Bayou Billy will tell you. I'm somewhat disappointed there are no vocals whatsoever, though. ![]() As there are understandably no vocals, that leaves not much to concentrate on apart from the sawtooth riffs and the drum machine. Even still, the mixing places a bit too much emphasis on the drums. "So turn the volume down, you dumb prick" I telepathically hear you say. Here, particularly in 'Wage Slave' and 'ED-209' - two of my favorite Lich King hits in ordinary circumstances - are actually painful to listen to at high volume. For some reason, I didn't get this problem with Master Boot Record's completely computerized metal efforts possibly because the song structures were more varied and relied less on blastbeats. Drum emulation, snares and splashes in particular, can become flatout maddening at times. As I'm not a virgin, I couldn't tell you which specific PSG-synthesizer was used, but it sounds decent enough. Meaty square/sawtooth waves pose as guitars and boast all of the appropriate portamento sweeps from the original track. The chiptune renditions are treated with more care and attention than most of the wafer-thin MIDIs you'll find on YouTube. Whether or not the punchline is worth the price of admission comes down to personal taste, which makes this difficult to review. But Lich King are nothing if not bumptious, and Super Retro Thrash might just be the boldest stand-up routine in their discography. Thus, the idea of compiling forty minutes worth of Lich King classics and playing them through the filter of Fester's Quest seems ill-judged. That seems like the opposite of appreciate. I once saw a YouTube comment saying they'd like to find whoever defiled the classic and tear out their still-beating heart. I don't know many metalheads who appreciate 8-bit renditions of classic heavy metal.
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