Society 1
Years of Spiritual Dissent
7.7
What?!? Over THREE HOURS of Manson/Korn/Slipknot-esque nu-metal with a ton of spoken word interludes? Where do I sign up…
…to shoot myself? I feel like I might as well have, as this is three hours I really wish could have been better spent elsewhere. Most of you are already familiar with Society 1, there’s really no lengthy history lesson needed, for Crash Music has generously (?) supplied us with Years of Spiritual Dissent, a healthy collection of this somewhat infamous act’s back material, aligned with a two hour background DVD that would give any eleven year old male seconds of sexual gratification due to the copious T&A. Well, I’ve already seen the Jackass sequel, and hanging from hooks by flesh lost its novelty appeal years ago, but the interviews with the band members might prove to be quite interesting to those who actually dig these guys since it’s really quite fascinating, and admirably informative (I’ll spare you the spoilers) with revealing some of Society 1’s history. The live concert footage is also entertaining enough, I suppose, even if I watched many of those parts with the mute button firmly pressed.
The DVD is a bonus that is included with the 70+ minute CD, which includes a painful cover of Black Sabbath’s “Who Are You”, an average cover of Alice Cooper’s “Sick Things”, and a new track “This Is The End”, as well as material from their previous releases, Words Are Carriers & Slacker Jesus. All in all, it’s a Society 1 fan’s wet dream come true. Goofy makeup, bizarre stage antics, tons of attitude and hair that doesn’t look like it’s been touched by shampoo in months. And the music? Well, it’s older material, so if you liked it before, you’ll probably like it now, and vice versa if it wasn’t your cup of tea years ago.
The overall quality of the DVD footage is decent enough, but the CD quality has a fragile mix overall, and sounds like plain paper-thin crap in some areas. The spoken word interludes are really quite grating as far as breaking up any sort of positive momentum the disc has going for it, and I don’t find much entertainment value in any of it, but if Society 1 and bands like them are your sort of thing, I’d absolutely recommend you pick up this compilation to help tide yourself over until they release Sadist Messiah early next year. As for me, I’ll be crying in the shower trying to wash off the psychological, unashamedly nu-metal filth those three hours of exposure to this band had accumulated onto my psyche. I feel so unclean. This is definitely for diehards only.
