You can take the Buzz out of Melvins, but you can’t yadda yadda yadda, For his latest solo acoustic outing, Krusty-topped singer-guitarist Buzz Osborne keeps it dark, weird and creepy as ever with another batch of campfire songs from hell (or at least the Manson Family reunion). Lest you think him some sort of one-trick punk pony, he wisely recruits Mr. Bungle and Melvins Lite bassist Trevor Dunn to expand the tracks’ sonic heft and musical horizons with his jazzy immediacy and classical grandeur — while handily surpassing the more stripped-down and simplistic 2014 outing This Machine Kills Artists in the process. Between the booming vocals and doom-laded melodies, Gift Of Sacrifice confirms that even unplugged, Osborne remains an electrifying oddball.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The Melvins’ King Buzzo has a new solo acoustic record called Gift of Sacrifice. This is exciting news! What makes this news even more exciting is that King Buzzo has recorded this record with the fabulously talented bass player Trevor Dunn. Trevor was a founding member of Mr. Bungle and also plays bass in the psycho metal/spaghetti western band Fantômas, as well as recording and touring with The Melvins (as Melvins Lite). The addition of Trevor’s stand-up bass makes Gift of Sacrifice a step up from King Buzzo’s last acoustic record, This Machine Kills Artists. It gives this new record a haunted quality which drives the songs to a new level. Another new element is the addition of modular synth, which adds its own angular sounds to the acoustic guitar and bass. This is an odd combination of sounds not heard before on an all acoustic record.”
