ANGRY LITTLE FREAK
Self Destruct
Purple Box Records
2005
As a very small but very tightly-knit sub genre of a sub genre, the shock rock always seems to have been looked upon as the red-headed stepchild (please excuse the figure of speech, all red-headed stepchildren out there) of the darker side of Christian music. We don't have very many bands and artists that fall neatly into this category; so far, there's been Rackets & Drapes, The Deadline's first release on Tooth & Nail Records, and to a certain point Alice Cooper. So, when an artist happens to come along that whets our collective appetites for the strange, bizarre, and totally frightening, we tend to embrace it like the ravenous animals that we are.
Adding to our diminutive collection is the CD Self-Destruct, by Michigan artist Angry Little Freak. While his last effort, Step Right Up, was more of a 70s style hard rock collection with a few songs containing the dark shock metal he's better known for (I haven't had the pleasure of hearing the first album, as it went out of print before I could get ahold of it), Self Destruct is, from what he's told me in correspondence, a return to the dark, edgy guitar-driven shock rock and metal that will definitely appeal to those who crave aggression in their dark musical perusing.
From the album artwork alone, you can tell this isn't your typical Christian artist. While one can easily slag Angry Little Freak as just another Rackets & Drapes clone, all comparisons based on the cover end there once you hit play and the opening song "Scales" creeps out of you speakers. The music is a deft mix of heavy-as-stink and jagged guitars, doomy rhythms, and atmospheric keyboards, with vocals that can only be described as zombified Alice-In-Chains that complements the mood.
For an independently self-recorded and produced album, the production on Self Destruct is top notch. This is due to the fact that, in the recording process, he kept things simple, using very little digital effects. The production is clean, crisp, and on a very high professional level. Even if he doesn't record another album, he should really look into producing, he's got a knack...
Lyrically, Self Destruct was made after some very intense soul-searching. While there is no lyric sheet included in the booklet, the Freak's vocals are clear and easily understood, all you need to do is listen with an attentive ear. Plunging the depths of his being, Self Destruct comes to the age old conclusion that while life can plunge you into darkness, there's a Light to be grasped, if you but ask.
In the end, Self Destruct is a very good collection of dark guitar-driven shock, for those who can't get enough of Alice Cooper's Raise Your Fist And Yell and Trick-Or-Treat era Rackets...
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