Nekromantix rise from the crypt once more to grasp rockabilly by the horns and drag it down into the sepulcher. "Life Is a Grave & I Dig It!," the band gleefully sing out on the title track of this long-player, just one of a slew of wildly anthemic numbers within. Of course, with a title like that it's easy for fans and critics alike to fall under the sway of the group's ghoulishly goofy lyrics and themes, a tendency that "Voodoo Shop Hop," "Panic at the Morgue," "Horny in a Hearse," and "Out Comes the Batz" will all reinforce. Suffice it to say that the band remains in fine lyrical form in a set stuffed with fiendishly wicked fun. But don't let the attention-seeking titles fool you, for beyond their demonic pose,
Nekromantix unleash some of the best rockabilly-inspired sounds around.
Grave captures the group at its most exhilarating, and simultaneously at its musical height. Troy Destroy's guitar work is absolutely devastating across this set. He's particularly flashy on "My Girl" and fiery enough to light a funeral pyre on "Voodoo." Whether he's rocking out in classic fashion as on the intro to "Morgue," sliding into slinky lounge style as he does early on in "Batz," or giving "Fantazma" a country-fried twang, Destroy's guitar is a weapon to be feared, be it at the warp speed of "Rot in Hell" or the snail's pace of the swamp-tinged "Anaheim After Dark." Singer/bassist Kim Nekroman and new drummer Andrew Martinez are both just as versatile, and although they have far fewer opportunities to be as flamboyant as their bandmate, they still both make their presence felt. An extraordinary rhythm section, the pair don't merely underpin the songs, but man the entire stylistic launch pad for Destroy's own work. Their crypt-ic bent may still excite attention, but with this set,
Nekromantix's phenomenal musicianship is finally disinterred from the grave to rattle its chains in all its glory. ~ Jo-Ann Greene