Scissorfight
Guaranteed Kill
Release date
– April 9, 1998
Wonderdrug
Records
Lineup:
Ironlung –
vocals
Jay Fortin –
guitars
Paul Jarvis –
bass
Kevin J.
Strongbow – drums
This is the
mighty debut from the mighty Scissorfight. This is an album that really shows a
great deal of energy and just overall greatness through more of a hardcore
style of music. If you’re more familiar with Scissorfight’s earlier stuff, as I
was when I first heard this album, you’ll be in for a bit of a surprise. This
album is much faster paced than their later stuff and the vocals are much more
harsh. Still though, it makes for some great listening. This is very evident
right from the start. “American Cloven Hoof Boots” is a great example of this.
You’re led in by a sample before it all takes off right before your eyes and
doesn’t let up at all. The album progresses on through blistering song after
blistering song with a few slower ones in there (tempo wise) to throw in a
little bit of a mix, but as a whole, this is an album that grabs you by the
balls and doesn’t let go. Songs like “Fine Me”, “Mossilaukie Rot”, “1893”, “Tempest
of Skulls”, and “Harvest of Horror” are all indications of how Scissorfight has
always been a good band, and then you have songs like “Planet of Ass”, which
show just how awesome this band really is, an awesome piece of music, hard
hitting and fast, as well as very catchy. The one thing that Scissorfight shows
that they’ve always had with this album is their great riffing, and it’s
clearly here as well. The riffs on this album are just as catchy as they are on
their most recent material. The bass also has always done a great job in
backing it up, and it’s clear here. The drumming… well, you don’t need to look
any further than Kevin J. Strongbow to find a great drummer, and he makes it
clear why with this release, and of course you have Ironlung’s unique and
devastating vocals on this release that really give it personality. Scissorfight
have always been an awesome band, and they showed it right here with their very
first release.
The sound
quality on this is pretty raw, but that is really the type of sound you’d want
on a release like this. Scissorfight have always been a band to turn their
heads to the rich and fancy, and that’s a big part of their music, and they do
it well here.
Scissorfight
have shown me with this release that although they aren’t exactly the same as
they were when they started, they really haven’t changed all that much when you
look at it. The album combines all the great elements that grace their more
recent releases, and it really shows what a great band sounds like when they
first start. Out of 100, I give it a 90.
Track
listing
1. American Cloven Hoof Boots
2. Supervirgin vs. Death Machine
3. Helicopter Killing Cottonmouth
4. Fine Me
5. Chocorua Mountain Woman
6. Mossilaukie Rot
7. 1893
8. Build More Prisons
9. Mulekick
10. Tempest of Skulls
11. Harvest of Horror
12. Joke
13. Planet of Ass
14. Mjolnir in the Valley of the Hags
New Hampshire
Tortuga
Lineup:
Ironlung – vocals
Jay Fortin – guitars
Paul Jarvis – bass
Kevin J. Strongbow – drums
A much different style of hardcore than anyone can be used to,
Scissorfight are a one of a kind band, without a doubt. Blending elements of
classic rock, hardcore, metal, and small elements of just about everything
else, this band really gives you a completely different style of music, and
that’s very clear with this release from them. The first song on the CD,
“Granite State Destroyers” is a great example; giving a solid, thick, heavy guitar
riff and some great drum fills to start the album off. The first line of the CD
really says it all with, “Weed, guns and axes, we don’t pay our taxes.” It’s
that kind of attitude that you get into when you put in a Scissorfight CD. The
next track, “The Ballad of Jacco Macacco” is easily the catchiest track on the
CD, with a guitar riff that can catch any listener. “Injection Site” and “Billy
Jack Attack” are two songs that are pretty catchy and quirky, another two great
songs on the CD. “Lamprey River” is another wonderful song that gives more of a
slow, stoner sound to it, but with that quirky sound still there. “The Gruesome
Death of Edward Teach” is the educational song from the CD, a song about Edward
Teach, better known as Blackbeard, the infamous pirate, and his death.
Ironlung’s vocals are at their most crushing with that track, and again, it’s
another very catchy song. “Mountain Man Boogie” is possibly the most quirky
song on the album, hilarious verses in the song. Overall, this is a very catchy
and quirky album, the song structures remain very similar throughout the album,
basic spoken verse and chants for the refrain with some fills and solos here
and there, they change it up a bit in some songs, but that’s the basic
structure. It’s a very fun album to listen to still.
The sound quality is about as raw as a studio album gets. Thick
riffs with a wide sound, perfectly done with a very raw edge.
This is a very fun album to listen to, it’s very quirky and
catchy, and there’s actually some pretty good musicianship shown by the band.
Ironlung himself belts out the lyrics with a vengeful conviction, especially in
“The Gruesome Death of Edward Teach”, and the album as a whole is very well
done. Out of 100, I say 88.
Track listing
1.
Granite State Destroyers
2.
The Ballad of Jacco Macacco
3.
Injection Site
4.
Billy Jack Attack
5.
Lamprey River
6.
Cycloptic Skull
7.
Roman Boxing Glove
8.
The Gruesome Death of Edward Teach
9.
Musk Ox
10. Mountain Man Boogie
11. Dead Thunderbird
Tortuga
Lineup:
Ironlung – vocals
Fuck You – guitars
Paul Jarvis – bass
Kevin J. Strongbow – drums
Scissorfight returns with their most brutal offering to date.
They start off right away with “Acid for Blood”, a thick and heavy riff that
really sets the tone for this album. The band keeps their quirkiness throughout
the album, as seen in tracks like “New Hampshire’s Alright if You Like
Fighting”, “Go Cave”, “Deliver the Yankee Coffin”, “Blizzards, Buzzards, and
Bastards”, and “Candy Clark”. Also, throughout the album you still get catchy
riffs, every song has a great catchy riff right in front of it. Every track on
this album is great, so I’m not going to bother going from track to track on
this album. The riffs on this album are thicker and heavier than on any other
Scissorfight album that I have ever heard, Ironlung also works even better than
on any previous album, putting several dimensions into each song very well. The
drumming from Kevin J. Strongbow is also very well done, as Kevin shows why
fans of the band consider him to be a very well established drummer. No, he’s
not lightening fast or anything like that, but he plays the style perfectly,
knowing exactly what to throw into each section of the music, and always one to
throw in a great fill here and there. It’s all done perfectly.
The sound quality on this album is still pretty raw, not as raw
as their previous releases though, it still sounds great and compliments the
music perfectly.
This is a much heavier offering than previous releases from
Scissorfight, and the results for this quirky New Hampshire quartet are even
better than before, with just as much silly stuff and just as many catchy riffs
as any of their previous releases, Scissorfight gets a 91 out of 100 with this
release.
Track listing
1.
Acid for Blood
2.
New Hampshire’s Alright if You Like Fighting
3.
Rats U.S.A.
4.
Deliver the Yankee Coffin
5.
Most Dangerous Animal is Me
6.
Hazard to Navigation
7.
Hammerdown
8.
Blizzards, Buzzards, and Bastards
9.
Mantrap
10. Death in the Wilderness
11. Candy Clark
12. Go Cave!
13. Cram it Clown
Lineup:
Ironlung – vocals
Geezum H. Crow – guitars
Jarvis – bass
Kevin J. Strongbow – drums
Scissorfight have been known for one thing other than releasing
great music throughout their careers, and that is putting out a ton of EP discs
(in comparison to full length releases). This is one of the many they’ve put
out, and it shows a good argument for putting those things out. Getting that
great music out quicker to the fans. This is a great example of that. The EP
starts off with “Hex”, which brings back memories of their earlier stuff, being
fast and furious, but also very catchy. From there it goes into “Riverhorse”,
which is a little more like their newer stuff, but this time it’s not as heavy,
but a very catchy tune. It’s a very melodic tune as well. All in all, it’s
another very good track. “Maritime Disasters” follows that up, and it’s a great
follow-up. Pretty heavy and melodic, very riff based, it’s some more great
music from the masters themselves. “Running the Risk of Raining Buffalo”
follows that up, and it’s another great tune. Very heavy, fairly fast tempo, it’s
a great example of Scissorfight’s more recent stuff, but it’s also a pretty
short tune as well. In that short time it does manage to cram a fistful of
great music down your throat though. “Harvester” is the final track on the
album, and it’s a great modern Scissorfight track, giving you that super thick
riffing and great tune, and don’t forget the hooks. That gives you a few
minutes of silence before leading you into a hidden track where a man is
speaking in what I believe is German for a while. Too bad I don’t know the
language, then I’d know what he’s saying, but it sounds like it must be
important.
Another fairly raw release from Scissorfight, I don’t think I
need to get too far into it.
This is a great EP from Scissorfight. It’s full of great songs
that absolutely will crush every bone in your body and leave you for dead in
classic Scissorfight fashion. The guys didn’t take anything easy while putting
this thing together. Every song on the EP is top notch, and for that, it gets
an 83 out of 100.
Track listing
1.
Hex
2.
Riverhorse
3.
Maritime Disasters
4.
Running the Risk of Raining Buffalo
5.
Harvester
Tortuga
Lineup:
Ironlung – vocals
Geezum H. Crow – guitars
Jarvis – bass
Kevin J. Strongbow – drums
Like I said, Scissorfight love to release EP albums, and this is
yet another good reason why they do it. Six more songs, all top notch quality
that I wouldn’t have wanted to wait any longer to hear. The album starts off
with the amazingly heavy and catchy “Proving Grounds”, and from there goes to “Cadaver
Recovery Man”, which is just as heavy and even more catchy than the previous
tune. Probably my favorite on the disc. “Mud and Guts” gives you sonically what
it’s name suggests, thick, heavy, dirty hard rock done Scissorfight style.
Another awesome song right there. “Cult Extraction” may have the best riffing
of any of the songs on the album. It’s fairly fast paced and extremely catchy
riffing as well as being heavy as Scissorfight should be. “Up in the Country”
is another example. It follows a different riffing style, but as always, it’s
extremely catchy, extremely thick, and just overall, extreme! “Riot on the
Village Green” starts off with some bass before breaking into a kick ass heavy
as hell riff and going from there to another, and overall just another great
heavy and melodic and catchy hard rock Scissorfight song, not a bad moment in
the entire song.
Same production/sound quality as above.
This is another great EP from Scissorfight. They manage to keep
pretty much the same formula from each song to the next, but manage to throw in
something different with each one to make each song different and easy to pick
out from the next. It’s a great ability in songwriting that allows them to do
this, and that is what is extremely evident with this release. Out of 100, it’s
an 85.
Track listing
1.
Proving Grounds
2.
Cadaver Recovery Man
3.
Mud and Guts
4.
Cult Extraction
5.
Up in the Country
6.
Riot on the Village Green
Band avg. score – 87.4
