Nasty Savage - Jeopardy Room ★★★☆☆

Nothing like a good, hearty belch after finishing a proper beer - this is that, but in music form.

   THRASH-O-METER

★★★☆☆ SONGWRITING

★★★☆☆ THEMES

★★☆☆☆ LONGEVITY

★★☆☆☆ PRODUCTION

★★★★☆ THRASHABILITY

SCORE:

★★★☆☆ GOOD SH!T

(and decimals are for weaklings)

Genre: THRASH METAL

Release Date: OCTOBER 4th, 2024

Label: FHM RECORDS

Nasty Savage rolls out a new album to celebrate the 20 years between the previous album and this one. Feels like nothing has changed - did anyone really expect anything had?

Slide into the familiar bar brawl and start thrashing

Skipping what was and focusing into what is: Jeopardy Room is a decent Thrash Metal album - and truth be told that is a high praise in itself nowadays. I guess you had to be there in the beginning to know what thrash is all about. The nasty smell of anarchy still sticks on the middle finger as you take a whiff while punched in the noggin'.

Sticking to your own sh!t and flying under the radar for decades gets you cult cred and that can work well for you these days. You will be like a breath of fresh air - even if your BO is a stuffy dive bar. Jeopardy Room starts with a fresh stomp and Nasty Ronnie sounds surprisingly like Nasty Ronnie after all this time.

Listening to any album one thing that I consider absolutely critical is that the songs have their own identities while still fitting the mould. On that regard Jeopardy Room is a success.

Schizoid Platform's peculiar rhythm changes and shred stand clear apart from Southern Fried Homicide's straightforward thrash march. Aztec Elegance whisks you into a King Diamondesque ride with a whispering intro setting the mood.

Strange bird on the album, Witches Sabbath from their album Wage of Mayhem, is visited by Obituary brothers Tardy.

I like the album a bloody lot!

Problem is that while things seem to be in a shipshape, there is a reason why Nasty Savage never really hit it big: musically speaking its an acquired taste. There's always been a certain tone on their twang and it hasn't really resonated with the masses. "Nasty" is a word that unsurprisingly comes to mind.

But, here we are! 20 years later and they haven't changed much. One thing that kind of jumps is that the songs are a heap simpler. I wouldn't even call it "straying from the source", but the music itself is a lot more open and accessible.

Nasty Savage does sound like a smaller band with the mix but that's to be expected. While I always love me some rough edges that reveals soul, on occasion this album sounds like sh!t. I was genuinely scared that the intro piece killed my speakers with its shattering highs that fray out of the functioning sonic landscape. On headphones the intro is plain unlistenable. And painful. There are some issues later on but this is as bad as it gets, mixwise.

The band should've asked for a third opinion

That is, unless you count in the song Blood Syndicate itself. Its tapping into the trope of mixing B movie dialogue samples into the song and here we have a clip from an x rated movie or something with a woman moaning. Might've seemed like a good idea at the bar but this is just so many levels of stupid. First and foremost its not really timed well with the music and like most of these gimmicks: they don't really add anything to the song. And the x rated stuff is kind of embarrassing.

Close to the classic 40 minute mark, Jeopardy Room's 11 songs have some fillers in them. To name a few beyond the aforementioned Blood Syndicate, there's an instrumental piece called 6th Finger which doesn't really serve a purpose. Also, the name song Jeopardy Room is a simpler version of the far better songs on the album. A tighter filter would've served the album better - and someone else overseeing the studio work.

SCORE:

★★★☆☆ GOOD SH!T

   KEY TO THE SH!T

★★★★★ THE REAL SH!T

★★★★☆ BADASS SH!T

★★★☆☆ GOOD SH!T

★★☆☆☆ SH!T FOR FANS

★☆☆☆☆ IT'S SH!T, JIM