IT’S a tough grind for any band to survive as long as this band has, even more so an Australian underground metal band. After almost thirty years, a revolving door of vocalists named either Adam or Dan – two of whom have been in the role twice – a dozen or so musicians and constantly shifting musical gears, Frankenbok have finally come full circle.
Their reunion with original vocalist Adam “Hutch” Glynn was cemented by last year’s manic Irrepressible EP. With the same levels of neurotic energy, The Arriba War Honkle locks that even more firmly into place.
Chaos has always played a role in Frankenbok’s music and here it is allowed free reign, returning to the deranged unpredictability of their early releases. Wipeout! keeps their reputation for quirky and unexpected covers intact while F.A.F.O. sets up the album’s raison d’être.
A form of musical chaos sets the backdrop for Hutch’s wild vocal outbursts across the album’s collection of tumultuously unconventional tracks. Covering topics from internet dating perils to dealing with day-to-day drudgery, each is an onslaught of chunky grooves and sudden bursts of riff carnage, a collection of tumultuously unconventional tracks that recall the work of obvious touchstones like Bungle and Fantômas but possessed of their own neurotic character.
It’s taken almost 30 years, but Frankenbok are almost back where they started: crazed, wildly unhinged and totally compelling.
