Ghoul Transmission Zero

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Reviewed by: Joshua   //   Published: 11/6/2011

The hooded menace is back to slice up unsuspecting hordes with their newest experiment, Transmission Zero. Part horror movie, part sci-fi comic book, this Mentors/GWAR/Bad Luck 13 hybrid is all sorts of badass on their fourth full-length making the perfect soundtrack for Halloween.

While some of Ghoul's earlier work bordered on death-grind, Transmission Zero relies heavily on the throwback thrash the band featured on 2006's aptly named LP Splatterthrash. "Off With Their Heads" is a suitable anthem for a lynch mob and "The Mark of the Voodoo" scorches like a red-hot poker on a bare belly. Jump into a circle pit with a chainsaw and wield the buzzing blade like Leatherface and you might come close to the carnage of "Blood Feast." They throw in a few curveballs too. Both "Death in the Swamp" and the title track slit the Misfits horrorpop vein. And "Moment of The Mezemtron" is 8-minutes of prodding exposition. A few winks at the crimson ghost and one opus yawnymous aside, the remainder of Transmission Zero is snorted speedballs and rot gut. Even production-wise, Ghoul sounds like unearthed flesh eaters in vintage fat tongued Reeboks as opposed to today's usual steroid injected super soldiers.

Not only is the music a murderfest, but Ghoul also wins the concept album of the year award (thanks Mastodon for not entering). Transmission Zero takes the listener from the bowels of Creepsylvania's catacombs with a half dead Caribbean voodoo dust peddler, to atop the highest perch of the kingdom's castle/evil laboratory, all the while following the four heroes as they dismember waves of Christian townsfolk in an opiate rage -- all while en route to unwittingly unfurl the twisted mind control scheme of the Grand Basilisk and Dr. Zabor Zongo. Even better than the ridiculous plotline are the lyrics, filled with disgustingly hilarious imagery. "Bones are smashed with mallets / Marrow drooling from their maws / Autophagous bacchanal of mutilated flesh / Red in tooth and claw." It's just as absurd and entertaining as it sounds.

It barely matters that the verse riff of "Destructor" sounds exactly like "Sargent D and the SOD" and "Moment of the Mezmetron" is similar to a Sexecutioner soliloquy. It's as retro-grade and fun as it can get. The schtick may not be new, but Ghoul continues to shove sharp sticks deep in the ears of anyone who'll dare listen.

Bottom Line: These lyrics from "Blood Feast" sum it up: "In the mood for some dubious snacks / He splintered their skulls with a swing of his axe / We siphoned some petrol from a car / And the orphanage was turned into a flaming abattoir / Tiny skeletons radiating heat / Young flesh is the best when it's eaten at a BLOOD FEAST!" Sick.

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