Zimmers Hole

The first thing that immediately catches one's attention on this disc from Vancouver's Zimmers Hole is that the production sounds identical to Strapping Young Lad; further examination finds SYL's Devin Townsend producing this album. Zimmers Hole is a light-hearted joke band that is simply having a good time. On this disc, they pay homage to a ton of their metal heroes by throwing in riffs every few seconds that will have you racking your brain trying to figure out where they came from. The joke gets old rather quick though, and the silly grade eight humour doesn't really work too well either. The music is quite intense and well played, proving the guys are capable of creating some raging metal, which one assumes they do in other bands. Tie all that together with silly-sounding triggered drums and even the guest vocals from Rob Urbinati can't save this friends-only affair.