Album Reviews : Party Vibez – Legends of Gnarlia

With a name that some people wouldn’t think of to represent a metal band, Melbourne thrashers Party Vibez do a damn good job at not only writing face melting crossover thrash metal from the likes of S.O.D. and Municipal Waste, but they have fun with writing their songs and even more fun playing them. After their debut 3-track EP Killer Demo a couple of years ago, the gnarliest band from Victoria have returned in 2012 with 11 songs self-described as “retarded” to put together their debut album, Legends of Gnarlia. The album was creatively titled as a pun based on Chronicles of Narnia.

The themes on this album aren’t the typical themes you’d hear on a thrash album. A few of the song titles/themes consist of puns or are based on 80’s movies. The puns of the album include the already explained title track “Legends of Gnarlia”, and the album closing thrash anthem “Indiana Cones & The Temple of Goon”, which is obviously a pun of Indiana Jones. The song Indiana Cones is about a guy who goes to parties to hook in with peoples girlfriends and steal alcohol and weed off of everyone. Prime Directive was written about the movie Robo Cop, with verse riffs perfect for circle pitting at a concert to. Erased from Existence is partly about Back to the Future and partly about taking killing people to the next level, and features an insane Megadeth-like guitar solo.

The slightly annoying (but still great) thing about the album is that some of the vocals are phrased so it’s incredibly easy to get stuck in your head, yet after at least 30 listens, I still can’t understand most of the lyrics, and lyrics weren’t provided in the album booklet. These moments are most noticeable in the songs “F.R.C.B.A.” and “S.O.E.”, which are my favourite songs on the album (aswell as Indiana Cones).

Everything that was great about Killer Demo is even better on Legends of Gnarlia, from the narrative passages in half of the songs, to the faster, heavier riffs, and notably the guitar solos that weren’t heard on the demo. Tuned to D# instead of standard this time, Party Vibez have wrote 11 catchy, ripping tunes that is all up 23 minutes long, and I have listened to them more than once a day since I received in the mail. Not only that, but the high quality, extremely rad artwork that comes with it is just another reason to buy the album. Legends of Gnarlia will definitely be on my albums of the year list. 9.5/10

Band: Party Vibez
Album: Legends of Gnarlia
Year: 2012
Genre: Crossover Thrash
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Label: Independent

Tracklisting:
1. Intro
2. Legends of Gnarlia
3. Battlefield
4. Mind Riff
5. Prime Directive
6. F.R.C.B.A.
7. S.O.E.
8. Erased From Existence
9. Cratervibez
10. Falling Down
11. Indiana Cones & The Temple of Goon