MELVINS — Ozma (review)

MELVINS — Ozma album cover Album · 1989 · Sludge Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Ozma" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US hard rock/sludge metal act Melvins. The album was released through Boner Records in 1989. The band are still a three-piece but Lori Black has replaced Matt Lukin as the band´s bassist. The original vinyl version of the album features 17 tracks while the CD version of the album features the full "Gluey Porch Treatments (1987)" album as bonus tracks.

Compared to the raw and unpolished debut album "Gluey Porch Treatments (1987)", "Ozma" is slightly more refined. We´re still talking raw, garage sounding hard rock/sludge metal with incredibly heavy riffs, adventurous drumming and a combination of raw and higher pitched "odd" sounding vocals, but it all come together a bit better this time around and "Ozma" is overall a more consistent album than "Gluey Porch Treatments (1987)". As mentioned the sound production is raw and garage sounding but it suits the music really well. The odd clicky bass sound might take some getting used to, but I guess it´s part of the album´s charm.

Quite a few of the 17 tracks on the album are very short. In fact most of the tracks on the 35:15 minutes long album, are between 1 and 2 minutes long and only two tracks exceed the 3 minutes mark. The many short tracks initially make "Ozma" a bit hard to get into, but once the tracks fall into place, it´s not a big issue although a couple of the tracks do feel a bit "unfinished". The band play a rather original sounding music style and while I´m always tempted to give praise to Dale Crover, because he is an incredibly skilled and adventure seeking drummer, it´s those ultra heavy guitar riffs courtesy of Buzz Osborne, that floor me every time I listen to a Melvins album. That man is a riff meister extraordinaire...

"Ozma" is overall a very entertaining and relatively strong release by Melvins and although the album is still a bit imature compared to later material by the band, both when it comes to songwriting, musicianship and sound production, it´s actually part of the album´s charm. The primal joy of playing music and experimenting with compositional ideas are so apparent here, that it´s hard not to admire Melvins for their approach to making music. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
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