Warthur Sleepytime Gorilla Museum's In Glorious Times finds the band in a slightly less theatrical mode than their preceding album, with the music seeming more real and immediate; if Of Natural History was a Vaudeville conception of avant-metal, this is more of a gritty and realistic movie soundtrack. Musically speaking, the band seem to be out to fuse the disturbing territories of Mr Bungle with the creepy chamber rock of Rock In Opposition legends Univers Zero, though the bizarre vocal approach is a 100% Sleepytime Gorilla original. Either way, the album is another successful experiment in balancing musical complexity and experimentation with way-out-there creepiness.

Warthur Sleepytime Gorilla Museum's twisted brand of avant-garde metaphysical vaudeville metal is intriguingly presented on Of Natural History, which the band have described as a concept album about a debate between the philosophy of the Futurist and the ideas of the Unabomber. How the repeated chant of "Babydoctooooooooor" or the high church celebration of Satan in A Hymn to the Morning Star fits into all that, I have no idea, but either way the band create a compelling musical territory which maintains an adept balance between keeping things experimental and ensuring the music is still satisfying to listen to, even if it does drag a little towards the end.

Xaxaar Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Of Natural History

Definitely one of the better avant-garde albums I have heard. The amount of tension this band creates with instrumentation is pretty unreal; it helps settle a truly dark mood. And as some people think the lyrics sound forced, I actually enjoy them quite a lot.

The lyrics tend to have a deeper meaning to them. Take for example "The Creature." This song has a blatantly obvious reference to politics, I think. But even if it is obvious, it does not take away anything from the song. I usually do like when symbolism is not up for interpretation for I see, and I quote the great Devin Townsend, "People going up their own ass." Besides the political themes that travel through the album, the lyrics also help create that atmosphere I like so much. Not only the lyrics, but just the vocals themselves, too. "A Hymn To The Morning Star" shows the range they have and it just makes the album feel that much more unique. "Phthisis" also shows off the talents of Carla as her voice definitely fits the album perfectly. There is definitely a group of talented singers doing the vocals for this album as they know what they're doing.

The band uses their fair share of wacky time signatures, but the way they use them has been so different than what I've heard before...in a good way! Usually when I hear an odd time signature it's just to add some complexity in the music. Sure, I guess you could say that they're doing this too, but what I love about the way they use the time signatures is the tension it builds. Like in "Phthisis," when they skip a beat, for some reason these small details make the album that much more solid for me. It helps create the atmosphere they were looking for, no doubt. Also another thing to take note on is that they don't sound forced. I see bands adding time signatures just for the sake of being complicated and those are usually the type of bands I try to avoid. It just doesn't sound good when you try and make some wacky polyrhythm, it just should come naturally in the unfolding of the music.

I am also quite a big fan of the instrumentation of the album. The use of instruments like the glockenspiel and the xylophone help to that tense atmosphere I keep going back to as it gives a sense of atmosphere. The array of percussion instruments is also a nice touch and is certainly welcomed in the album. As, of course, there are guitars, bass, and drums, they don't take as big of a role as other metal bands. As of course these instruments are used often, they just feel like they compliment the rest of the band, not so much that they ARE the band (as most metal is).

Overall, I really have nothing bad to say about the album; I love everything about it. I have heard complaints that there is too much filler and ambience, but for me that helps the tone further. Plus, the album is fairly lengthy, I think they have some leg-room to just create some haunting aura. If it was a Cynic album, then maybe I would be a bit more concerned they were filling the album with pure ambience. My personal favorites are "The Creature" and "The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion," even though I don't think there is one song that I would consider to be a disappointment. All of them are good in their own unique way and help catapult this album to a 4 star rating from me.

Triceratopsoil A ridiculous, crazy piece of work, Of Natural History has possibly the most unique and distinct pieces of music I've ever heard on one album. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum use their signature plethora of homemade instruments to great effect, there are all sorts of slinky, booming or just plain distorted instruments, most of them seeming to be percussion or string based, and they all sound absolutely perfect in conjunction with the music. The lyrics are simultaenously silly (BAY-BEEEE DOCTORRRRR!) and serious, carrying powerful messages in amongst the amusing wordplay.

A wonderfully eclectic album, Of Natural History is perhaps more avant-prog than metal but heavy enough to headbang along to.

Phonebook Eater When I listened for the first time to "Of Natural History", I didn't like it. It then grew up on me. So when I picked up "In Glorious Times", and when I realized at my first listen that I didn't like it, I thought it was eventually going to grow up on me. I was wrong. Still today I can't enjoy this album much, probably because of it's excessive experimentation in some parts (don't get me wrong, I love experimentation in music, but at a certain point: when it starts to be barely tolerable, I can't stand it.), and also because of the growling of the singer, even though I never really mind this type of vocals.

Despite these things, there are some good moments: the first song, "The Companions", has some great haunting moments, "The Salt Crown" is another great piece that reminds me of "Babydoctor" a little. "Angel Of Repose" is excellent as well, since the melody is surprisingly cathcy and the experimentation is incredible.

These are the best moments. But the rest is easily forgettable, and, in my opinion, not really worth the whole 67 minute listen.