The first time I ever heard Vampire Mooose was when I guested on the radio show The Pit for 90.7 WCLH FM. The host, now [at the time of review] the vocalist of Neldoreth, found the album's description intriguing and threw it on the air with the track "Colonize", and my blood started pumping right away. The following morning, this CD was in my possession, and it lived up to every aspect expected. Vampire Mooose is an intense as all hell Groove Metal act from Missouri that relies on their instruments to sound as heavy as possible while utilizing as much vocal distortion as possible to make the vocalist sound absolutely intimidating, as well as make it so you can't understand a thing he says.Each track on this release is both satisfying, and often leaves you feeling like you just went twenty rounds with Mr. T.
Vampire Mooose starts off the album with "Spiderman Vs. Venom", which features a drum solo right from the start, even if it is slightly brief thanks to the guitars chiming in shortly after with a catchy Groove riff. After building up until the guitars change everything and have a tighter Groove feel to it, coming off a bit weaker compared to the song's introduction. However, as the song progresses, it just builds the intensity up more and more until you're ready to tear into the next track, you get the instrumental track "Waltz del Monstruo" which had some odd but very fitting guitar effects mixed in with a touch of Jazz to make it much more enjoyable. After that is when the real fun of the album begins with plenty of hard hitting tracks that stand out against one another on here, with exception to "Colonize", which starts off with Bruce Campbell as Ash (from the Evil Dead film series) on "S Mart" informing shopping at this fictious store the track name is based on that this CD is now available before "Colonize" tears into what can only be described as one of the most intense Groove Metal songs to ever come into existence, as well as the slightly atmospheric Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom-inspired slower paced track "Khali Ma". Both of these tracks end Vampire Mooose on a very high note and are easily the best tracks off the entire album.
But, aside "Colonize" and "Khali Ma", each track after the instrumental "Waltz del Monstruo" seems to just pick up more intensity as the album goes along, and each track has it's own unique qualities. Either the impact the song has it heavier, like "Del Fontineau", "Stoneheed" and "Colonize, which are just a blistering furious assault on your ear drums, or the band incorporates various other elements with it. These other elements stem from some technical guitar work that creates a very impressive groove to the sound the band established on the earlier material of this release, as well as some rap. Given the chaos this band brings to the mix, the rap seems to just fit in perfectly. Luckily it only really appears during "Adamantium Elbow" as well as "Del Fontineau", as any more use of it probably would have ruined the added effect these short moments provide. Some may argue that it does appear during the chorus of "Stew" briefly, but it's one line said really fast in both counts on this track, and doesn't really constitute it being a moment of rap, but more of a spoken word segment that was performed to keep up with the pace of the song's fast moving music. What appears later in that track would fall under the category of Reggae, being much quicker then what you would find in any rap song, and goes well with the track.
The debut self-titled full-length release by Vampire Mooose is a very unique album, thanks in large part to the gimmickey insanely distorted vocals, but a large part of it also stems from the creative guitar work presented here. All of this works well together to create such an intense sound that hooks you right from the start with the infectious groove riddled chords and drums that leaves you in a huddled mass on the floor. If you have not had the chance to check out this release, you simply must make the time. Why the band is even signed to such a small label like Rotten Records is mind boggling, as this release shows a very skilled band with enough solid material to put many established Metal acts of today in this genre to shame. Either way, this is a hands down must own for any Metal fan.
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