THE TENAFLY VIPERS / YOUR EVENT HORIZON / CD REVIEW
I love having a band like the Tenafly Vipers on this site because even though they’re hard to pigeonhole (sounds like a weird sex act) they encompass every genre we’re trying to cover on this puppet show and better yet, they do it all stupendously.
Maybe metal and hardcore is in the forefront of their style but punk and classic hard rock run side by side with them. Brutal guitars, thrashy rhythms, high screaming vocals- it all sounds like Judas Priest stuck in the garbage disposal or toaster oven, yet – scorching hot. If Motorhead, Slayer, The Stooges and Kiss had a baby and it was treated very, very, badly he’d come out screaming like this cd.
For influences they say, “Prison rape and shot gunning tall boys. Take that how you want it.” I want it fast and hard and I’m referring to the tall boys, either way.
First song is, “La Fin Du Monde,” which means “End Of The World” (or something), which already happened May 21, 2011 as we all know. What a disappointment; the world ends and I’m still back at work Monday. What a bitch! But this song consoles my sorrow at the lack of annihilation by musically doing so. It starts out with a metal beat for all of eight seconds and than hardcore thrashin’ for another twelve, then in your face vocals come in like a pit bull at your throat and a grinding guitar with another one spiraling upwards, “Till the end of the world, till the end of the world, I will hunt you down, Till the end of the world.” Another verse, worse than the curse- “This is your last breathe.” After the chorus it slows down for the beginning and then a stoner 70’s lick brings us into a wah-wah guitar solo that escalates into a fast, hardcore-ish beat underneath exploding into the chorus-“I will hunt you down,”- The world actually ends then and all the sinners are surprisingly swooped up to heaven- Hurrah, Hurrah!
“Rise Up” is next with its metal/hardcore vibe riding the hot rails to hell with some death metal vocals put in there until the end where it descends into a samba metal with a Bo Diddly beat. I know that sounds fucked up but it’s all in a good way.
“Lie, Cheat, Steal” is next which sounds like the best song Kiss forgot to write while they continue to rock with a capital “R”. You can tag on all the prefixes you want but what this band does is ROCK in “caps lock” mode.
They keep on bashing and crashing, thrashing, head banging throughout- My favorite tune is towards the end, “God Damn Champion.” More moderate in tempo it leaves me with a loss of words to describe, with it’s constant in and out rhythm and chuggin’ buzzin’ guitars above and the chorus proclaiming to be, “the goddamn champion,” less boastful and more with a sadness and disgust with what he has to compete with; a mellow downing for the solo and then back into the stutter verse beat, a goddamn champion song.
So Tenafly Vipers are the fuck’n’balls, man, and you can take that to the bank. And you can take that anyway you like it. The Tenafly’s deliver like I like it. I want it fast and hard.
(Jimmy Thrash)
