Spacefaring hype beast, John Goblikon is back with his musical band in tow after an almost 4 year layoff since the aptly named Welcome to Bonkers back in 2018. And not much has changed from this hard to pigeon-hole, but fun as fuck band, as they still play a sort of melodic death metal with tongue firmly in cheek (but not a comedy or parody band), that’s equal part The Black Dahlia Murder, Dethklok, System of a Down and power/heavy metal.

And the band still is surprisingly good and dare I say, even poignant songwriters delivering 11 anthems that span the gamut of quirkily, metallic, fist-pumping bangers and a few lighter waving ballads to boot. And armed with what appears to be a beefier production from producer Jason Suecof, who also did Welcome to Bonkers, the tomfoolery seems to hit a little harder.

The opening trio of “Right Now” (also the name of John Goblikon’s podcast), “Golden Future” and “Yin”, will have most folks grinning from ear to ear, unless you hate fun in your metal. The goofy keyboards (which range from harpsichords and accordions to trumpets, kazoo noises, and electronic programming) and vocals are light-hearted and the riffs are catchy as fuck, as the band actually writes good songs, and is not just a costumed gimmick band (I’m looking at you Lordi).

The next couple of songs, song things change things up a bit with  “Supernovas (Exploding in Space)” (arguably my least favorite song on the album), delivering an off killer “Chop Suey!” ish spazzy romp (which the band covered back in 2020),  while “Bones” is a full-on ballad of sorts, with a mid-paced goth metal chug and keyboards. But they are followed by arguably the album’s best song “Going to Die”, a goddamn glorious power folk-pop metal romp of epically bizarre proportions. I dare you not to tap your feet, along with the humpa-ish verses.

The back third of the album is a bit of a mixed bag with a couple of really good songs, and a couple of merely OK tracks. The OK songs are another ballad-y song, “This is it ” (though its heavy ending does highlight the beefier production), and 80s synth/power-pop number”Fancy Wind”. The almost Finntroll-ish blast of “A Lesson in Hate” and the wondrously circus-y sway of “Carousels” ( which gave me Between the Buried and Me vibes) deliver top-notch party tunes. The album ends with “No Such Thing as A Key”, the one ballad on the album that works, as its mood and choral hues end the album with a nice, epic flourish.

I can hear the metal purists chuffing and huffing over these guys and their albums a mile away, but the truth is they deliver fun, chaotic, and bizarre catchy metal. And it a world of old school saturation, murky death, and blackened deathcore (all of which I love), Nekrogoblikon is a glimmer of not-so-serious fun amid the darkness.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments