Search - Painkiller :: 50th Birthday Celebration 12

Great Performance - Awful Mix

M. Hawling | Australia | 12/09/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Well firstly I question whether this band can be called Painkiller as Mick Harris was probably the defining element of what defined Painkiller's "hardcore" soul. Harris is a drummer with a very distinctive and individual groove, style and approach. What we loose here is strength and push from the drum stool. Despite all the noise from Zorn and Patton we don't have either the danger or the dub that Harris provided.



That said as a performance it is excellent with Laswell and Zorn still using a Painkiller approach to the music. Hamid Drake does some really great playing as well though he is in much more of a supportive roll.



However the mix on this recording is awful. I assume it is from the desk so Zorn and Patton are very loud while Laswell and Drake are much too low in the mix (from being loud in the room at the time I guess). This is a problem with all the Painkiller live recordings, but this is the first where it makes listening very hard. If only they could drag in a multichannel tape machine sometime.



"

Frantic improvs and deep grooves.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 10/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"John Zorn's 50th Birthday Celebration series has yet to disappoint-- the remarkably consistent his quality of the material has been stunning, and certainly this the 12th entry in the series, is no exception.



Billed as Painkiller, the band features 2/3 of the original Painkiller lineup in John Zorn and Bill Laswell, but replacing Napalm Death drummer is Hamid Drake. This changes the sound of the music eventually-- Drake, with a pedigree in free jazz, reggae, and African percussion, brings a far different sound to the band. Rather than rhythmically moving in the death metal/grindcore directions, Drake instead lays down funky grooves, marchish cadences, and tribal rhythms. Laswell, for his part, seems far more at home with this, sinking way into the groove alongside the drummer. But certainly as big an influence on the sound of hte disc as Drake is vocalist Mike Patton. Eschewing anything typically resembling singing and running his vocal through a processor, Patton screams, clicks, pants, chants, mumbles and burbles, as often serving as part of the rhythm section as a "soloist". Zorn, for his part, seems inspired by the whole preceedings-- alternating between frantic wailing and extended saxophone techique and funky lines pairing alongside the rhythm section.



Patton fans should note there is no doubt this is a John Zorn record-- Patton contributes frantic vocals to the piece more in line with his solo records or Fantomas.



Bottom line-- its another superb release in the birthday series. If you picked up the Hemophiliac disc, it's quite similar in terms of the sort of sounds coming from Zorn and Patton, with Laswell and Drake's considerable presence adding a deep rhythmic groove to the piece. Highly recommended."